The quirky adventures of Wadokei Aojikan
by polonium2102
Summary: A weird character from an alternate earth trained by Gaster to use dying will flames and magic stumbles into the my hero academia universe after a great fight. Will he be able to get out ? Will he make friends there ? Will he not want to leave eventually? All answered in this quasi-SIOC fanfic. Rated T because Bakugou.
1. Reborn in a new world

**A.N.: **Hi there! This is the first fan fiction in a (hopefully) long series of fics telling the story of a certain mysterious character that appeared briefly in the previous one shot.

Warning: this is a quasi-SIOC fic, and there will be IzuOcha moments in this story. With this out of the way, let's get started!

* * *

**Chapter 1: Reborn in a new world**

I had just woken up in a dark... room? I think Gaster had called this a void. The name wasn't important though. I was in unknown territory with basically no information other than its name. I calmed down, and tried to think until I got interrupted by a familiar voice.

"So, how do you like this place? Cosy, right?" a mysterious figure said while grinning.

"General Legrand," I replied, "If I remember correctly, you said that you barely had enough energy to activate the time stone! How are you even standing?"

"Oh, please, have I ever told you the whole truth?" He asked, seeming exasperated. "Not like a bloody stupid hero like you would understand," He muttered.

Silence filled the void. I finally had enough time to think for a bit, and I remembered what Gaster had told me about voids. There are only three ways to get into one: either a) you broke laws of the universe, b) someone sealed you in it or c) someone attacked with a time spell, you will be born again in an other timeline, and this is just a temporary place where you will wait. It was definitely not a) nor b), so that left me with the fact that the general had used a pretty powerful time travel attack.

How did I get there, you must wonder? A good question, though I'm not quite sure about where I should start... Well, one day, my school was attacked by the Order, an organisation of people who have supernatural abilities. They were trying to recruit a friend of mine as well as myself. But thanks to the help of a 'monster' named Gaster, I was able to unlock my abilities and protect my school and the other students from the attack, and I also was able to recruit a kid that had helped his master in the attack.

When I learned that the Order forcefully recruited kids that had some kind of supernatural abilities, separating them from their families, I really didn't want to join them. In fact, ever since then, I've been their number one enemy. I'm trying to take them down, or at least show them the error of their ways.

This is why I have fought against general Legrand. My friends had won the last fight against him, but at the end of it, he managed to teleport me in this timeline. However, I knew that rebirth spells were very complex, and that he had basically just channelled his magic through the time stone he had. Because of that, the spell he was using must have been incomplete, which meant that there was a way to break through it and get back to my timeline.

Now of course, I was really happy, but know I needed to know what kind of conditions the general had put in to make the spell work. Problem being, I'm not exactly known for my poker face, so teh general saw right through me. He cursed under his breath, and sighed.

"It looks like you've realised this is an incomplete version of a rebirth." He looked extremely angry right now, but he quickly calmed down. "Now, because I'm so nice, I'm actually going to tell you what conditions you must fulfil to get back to our timeline." He stopped talking to put emphasis on his next sentence. "There are none!"

"What? Excuse me? That's not possible." I said, not believing him. "You must have put someway out of this timeline, since you had no time to prepare the spell. So how did you do it?"

"Hahaha, this is so funny." I got angry, because I knew that he was toying with me. "Hey, you know what? It turns out that if you give the person you sent to another timeline time-manipulating powers, you don't need to put conditions! Now, of course, I didn't know it until I actually used the time stone. That was my last resort. But because of the way this timeline's supernatural abilities work, I won't have to worry about you getting out. Oh, by the way, I think that it's beginning."

"What is beginning?" I asked, glaring at him.

"Your new life in a world where you have no friends! Have a terrible life, my dearest enemy!" As he said that, a light began to fill the void, and I couldn't feel anything for a while.

* * *

When I finally could control my body again, I thought aloud: _"What a terrible day." _But there was a problem. Actually, it was more like two problems: Firstly, the voice I heard was way too high-pitched to be me. Secondly, I didn't hear any words, but only an ear-piercing scream. It almost sounded like a... baby?

_No, that's ridiculous, of course I'm not a baby, it might be a rebirth spell, but he wouldn't... Just to make sure, let's try again in french, maybe that'll work._

"JE SUIS UN PYRO-BARBARE!" is what I wanted to say but another ear-piercing scream came out instead.

Another scream came out a few seconds later. But this time it was voluntary. I don't think I could've expressed what I felt at that very instant in any other way. I slowly realised that I was, indeed, a baby. My arms and legs were too short, my whole body was too short, and everyone around me looked like giants. Or at least that's what I thought, because I couldn't see anything. It felt like I wasn't wearing my glasses, but ten times worse - and I already have a pretty bad eyesight.

The doctor said "It's a boy!", and that managed to calm me down. Oh, what would I have done if I were reborn into a girl? Honestly, I didn't want to think about it, so I tried to get the thought out of my head. My mom and dad took me in their arms, but I couldn't get a good look at them. I thought that I could see they had nice looks on their faces, but it was really hard to tell. It was also very hard to tell what they were saying, as I had to focus immensely to understand what they were saying.

_Now that I think about it, this doesn't sound like English at all! How am I understanding this? _ I wondered. And the surprises didn't stop, as a nurse took me in her arms to examine me perhaps? She set me down on a table, and after talking with my parents, she took her glasses off. Laser beams fired from her eyes, and after covering all of my body, she talked to the doctor while doing a thumbs up with her hand.

This timeline... I had only been there for less than an hour, and it was already crazy. If the general wanted to confuse me, he had succeeded. I decided to sleep, because I really needed to think about this calmly.

_Why did this happen to me?_

* * *

**A.N.: **Thanks for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to leave a review if you have any suggestions. The french sentence meant "I AM A FIRE BARBARIAN!", which is a reference to a french youtuber named Bob Lenon. With this out of the way, see you next time for a new chapter of _The Quirky Adventures_!

_"Beef ? I am lacking in beef. Fawful is beefless."_


	2. First quirky steps

**Chapter 2: First quirky steps**

After the shock of the initial day, the next 3 years passed in a breeze. I managed to learn a lot about the world I was in. Even the weird part about the nurse shooting lasers from her eyes. But I don't want to talk about that for the moment. It wasn't easy though since I had to learn Japanese, and I can't say I've mastered yet. I don't know how I had managed to understand something the first day, but I'm guessing that something just clicked in my head. Because of the language barrier, even though my parents were cultivated people and they had a huge library, most of of it was basically useless.

My parents quickly learned that while I was struggling to read Japanese, the Latin alphabet - or as it is called in Japan, Rōmaji or ローマ字 - was no problem for me. As such they started teaching me how to read and write hiragana and katakana at the record age of 1 - at least I thought that was a record. As such, I was able to understand the books for kids that they bought me, but the actually interesting books were out of my reach.

However, I don't know if my parents had experience in teaching, but they really helped me out in my quest to learn Japanese. Whenever I wanted to start reading kanji, they would check to see if I had learned my kana correctly. As such, I wasn't able to start them until much later. So instead of reading books, I started to train myself to use my powers. Most of them didn't work greatly, either injuring me lightly, or having secondary effects that I don't quite remember.

In the end, nothing worked, except for a single thing: dying will flames. Gaster had taught me that they didn't really come from our timeline, so I wasn't surprised when I found out that I could use them in this timeline. However, I did become very curious as to how they interacted with this universe. I knew that it would help out my master in his research - since he is normally a scientist. And when the very easy part of making hypothesises and checking if they were correct came to an end, as I finally formed a coherent theory of how this universe interacted with powers, I had to create a model.

And that meant that I had to solve equations. Now, normally, I like maths. But the equations that I had to solve in this model... I did find some results, but most of the time, it was so complicated that I couldn't understand what I was writing. It felt like I was missing something, but I didn't know what.

The answer came soon enough, as one day when I was 2 years old, my grand-parents came to visit. When they saw that I was actually solving equations, their jaws dropped. My parents had tried to convince them, but of course they didn't want to believe it until they saw it. And that's when it got interesting. My grandmother wondered if I was perhaps manifesting my quirk earlier than usual. I had never heard the term quirk being used in that context before, so I asked my mom what a quirk was, just to make sure I wasn't misunderstanding.

What she said blew my mind. In this world, quirks are what we would call superpowers. They were physical abilities that allowed to do basically anything, ranging from controlling fire to having a tail. Of course, I asked mom if she or dad had a quirk. Everyone around the table laughed. I didn't understand why, but my mother explained that 80% of the population nowadays had a quirk. I started to realise that this was the element I was missing in my equations.

My mom had the ability to slow-down someone's perception of time by looking at them in their eyes. That sort of explained the clock-like patterns in her eyes. Meanwhile, my dad's quirk was to accelerate time around him. He could control the zone in which he accelerated time. For example, he could plant a seed in the ground, and using his quirk, he could make it grow faster.

Thinking about it, I realised that I had heard the terms hero and villain being thrown around in conversations. This explained a lot of things. Villains probably used their quirks to steal things or to hurt people. And in reaction to that, some people decided that the villains should be stopped, and used their quirks to stop them.

My mother confirmed my theory, and said that it would be great if I became a hero. She said that if my quirk was indeed to be incredibly smart, perhaps I could lead the teams of hero and defeat all the villains. I silently nodded, realising that being a 'hero' is what I had been doing ever since Gaster had trained me. This was my path to discover more about my quirk and this timeline, this was the way I would help people along the way.

And so, I now had a plan. I was going to learn more and more Japanese until I was able to get the best grades, and I would enter in the hero course of UA, the greatest hero school of Japan. Out of its door came the best heroes of the generation, including the number one pro hero, All Might. With pro heroes as the teachers, I knew that this would be the best way to learn more about my quirk.

However, as I was thinking about the future, I muttered a bit too loudly in English. My grand-parents were astonished, but my parents hadn't been paying attention, so I was saved. Or not, it turned that they were as curious as I am, and asked me a very simple question in English.

"Do you understand me?" My dad asked, and I would have said no, were it not for the fact that I heard people speak in English with terrible Japanese accents all the time.

"Yes, I do. But please try to improve your English dad. This is painful." I almost said that I didn't want to go through this again, as my 'original' dad was french, so his accent wasn't much better.

Everyone in the room was astonished, and nobody asked me anything when I went back to my equations. My grand-parents left shortly after, probably thinking that they were too old to deal with this. I was able to understand the equations a lot better, and I made a lot of progress that day.

Eventually, when I got to kindergarten at the age of three, I had basically figured out most of the model. Some questions still needed to be answered, but it didn't steal all of my focus as it had before. The first day of kindergarten, my parents did not want to let me go, but after debating with them for while, they left the school, making all kinds of promises that they would come back and that I shouldn't worry. Ah, parents. Anyway, I roamed around the playground, seeing kids with horns or extra limbs - mutant quirks, probably.

When we entered the classroom, I was introduced to all of the other classmates. In the end, only two of them really mattered. The first one was Izuku Midoriya, who had green _everything. _Green eyes, green hair, a green bag, and, guess what, green is his favourite colour. It was hard not to notice him, really.

He was very timid, but I came to know him better eventually. Being right next to him in class certainly helped, as we were basically forced to interact at that point. But truth be told, the thing that linked us was an overwhelming curiosity. We were both geeks, and while he tried to hide it, it was really easy to find out. I mean, he talked about All Might every other day, he was a complete fanboy. And while I wasn't as focused as he was on All Might, we did have very interesting conversations about the number one hero.

The other was Katsuki Bakugou. At first I didn't think much about him, but he liked All Might as well, so Izuku liked to talk to him. However, when he developed his quirk, he completely changed. He was arrogant before, but it got ten times worse. It didn't help that the adults and the classmates praised him for having such an awesome quirk - which was manipulating explosions, by the way. The guy was a walking security issue, but somehow the adults didn't say anything about it.

And with all of that arrogance, came bullying. Bakugou became the top dog, and anyone that didn't submit to him would feel his wrath. He had lackeys following him around, and when Izuku was discovered to be quirkless, he started bullying him even more than the others. I was furious. I didn't want to let Izuku get bullied, so I tried to protect him, even though I had no quirk. So I got injured, but guess what? I was blamed for escalating the fight, and Bakugou got out with nothing. That's when Izuku and I started coming to school precisely on time, and not getting out of the class during break. Just so that we would escape Bakugou's wrath, at least until I had my quirk.

But one day, my quirk did come, but let's just say I wasn't able to control it perfectly. Everything was normal, and the next moment nothing was. Everyone was moving and doing everything slower than usual. After a few seconds, I had a massive headache, and I couldn't see nor feel anything. I think I passed out at that moment, but that wasn't possible, as I could still see things. It was like I was back in the void, but this time, there were new people. A sort of green larva was floating in a corner, and I couldn't quite understand what it was. It looked suspiciously similar to a metroid but I didn't want to think about that. I turned around only to see a kid that looked exactly like my body in front of me.

I tried to talk to him, but I woke up. Everything I had seen had disappeared. The teachers did the usual thing they did when someone developed their quirk, and told me how incredible it was. Izuku turned into full fanboy mode and asked too many questions about what my quirk despite the fact that I had just awakened it. After thinking for a while, I remembered that my parents' quirk were manipulating time, so I concluded that somehow, I had managed to slow-down time with my quirk. But my mind couldn't take it, so I just ended up with a massive headache.

After that situation was sorted out, I walked back home with Izuku, as we usually did. We went through the playground and we saw Bakugou and his "friends" bully someone. For whatever reason – a strong sense of justice? - Izuku jumped in to try and save the bullied kid. Unfortunately, the result was very predictable.

"Stop this, Kacchan!" Izuku begged, still using that old nickname.

"What was this, useless Deku?" Bakugou demanded, rage seething through his voice, "You think a quirkless bastard like you can save anyone?"

"I-I might not have quirk like you, and I might be a useless Deku, but I can't let this stand!" Izuku answered, full of courage.

Izuku's small speech inspired me to take action. I would not be a bystander any more, nor would I become a victim of Bakugou's bullying. I wasn't quite sure of how I would use my quirk to defeat him, nor was I certain that I could defeat him after 4 years without battling anyone. But when Bakugou attacked, I knew that he was in vulnerable position. My battle senses kicked in, and I used my quirk to slow down time around me. Thanks to this, everyone who didn't have a speed quirk could not keep up with me. I walked towards Bakugou, and gave him a hard kick in the gut, which sent him flying towards his lackeys.

Unsurprisingly, His 'friends' didn't come to the rescue, leaving him alone on the playground floor. After recovering from my headache - which wasn't easy with Izuku's constant mumbling - I walked towards Bakugou. I tried helping him to get back on his feet, but he slapped the hand I had extended, glaring at me with anger.

"It's not like you're better than me, you stupid nerd!" He yelled, revealing his true nature: _a tsundere!_

"Excuse me? Are you conscious of what just happened?" I asked, astonished. "Need I remind you that I defeated you in _one_ kick?"

"Well, that doesn't mean anything! You attacked me while I was vulnerable!" Bakugou didn't realise the contradiction between his words and his actions. "And that's why I will always be better than you or that quirkless nerd Deku!"

"Are you kidding me? You're the one who's been bullying Izuku and the others this whole time because they are vulnerable." Bakugou still glared at me, but he didn't say anything. "And if you want to say that clearly Izuku is weaker than you because he's quirkless, that's wrong as well! Even though he didn't have a quirk, he tried to protect this kid from you. And because of his inspiring actions, I stopped you. You know, now that I think about it, the word Deku does sound very similar to the expression "you can do it!" in Japanese. You know what? From now on, I'm going to call him Deku as well. But it won't have the same meaning anymore. It will be that guy that keeps inspiring us to do the correct things!"

"Y-Yeah, Wadokei's right!" Deku said, almost not stuttering, "Our Deku isn't an insult any more, it's my reminder to always try and do my best!"

Bakugou kept his mouth shut. He didn't have any clever reply to this. I, myself, was left without words. Izuku – no, I should be calling him Deku now – had managed not to stutter when he talked, and when he said "our" instead of "my", I was really touched, and I couldn't believe that he had spoke up. Bakugou stood up and left the playground, but I could see that something had changed in the way he looked at us. He wasn't angry nor happy, he was just annoyed by our presence. _I guess we win?_

After making sure the kid we saved was actually fine – we weren't sure we had made in time, and even then, with Bakugou you are never sure enough – we finally went back home. However, before splitting paths, I asked him to stop, because I had something to tell him.

"Deku, there's been something on my mind ever since I knew you were quirkless, and what happened today really made it clear for me." Izuku looked at me, curiously. "I need to train. Because I might have defeated Bakugou, but if there's another threat to you or me, I'm not sure I can take it down. And I can't always be there for you, so I think we should train together. What do you think about it?"

"Um, that's a great idea, and it's really nice of you." He said. "But are you sure I am ready for it?"

"What? Nonsense, of course you'd be ready for it." I answered, thinking that there was no reason to worry. "It might be a bit difficult at first, but it should go fine."

"Well, if you put it that way... I guess we can do it." He said. "But can we please wait until we're actually in elementary school? I don't think my mom will say yes before that."

"Hum... yeah, I guess that's reasonable." I was a late bloomer so we were already in our last year of kindergarten. Elementary school wasn't that far. "But do tell your mother about it. So she's able to think about it."

"Okay. Well, see you tomorrow!"

"Yeah, see you!"

I waved at him, and I started walking towards home. I was perhaps a bit too excited, but while my first training period with Gaster had been a nightmare, whenever I had trained afterwards, it was so fun. That and the fact that I had someone to train with, rather than being alone in my room trying to make my flames appear, would make this a welcome change.

* * *

**A.N.:** Cliffhanger! I've always wanted to this. I guess this is one less thing to do on my "Things I want to do in life" list. I don't know if the whole going into space shtick is gonna work or not. Well, you never know!

Don't forget to leave a review if you have any suggestions, and with this, I leave you until the next chapter of _The Quirky Adventures_ comes out!

_"Fawful hates your faces!"_


	3. Maximum training

**Chapter 3: Maximum Training**

The next few years weren't particularly interesting, except for my training with Izuku, so I'll only detail that.

Firstly, I didn't train with him physically until about 7 years old, and even then, our training was not very intensive. We focused on swimming as our sport, as I thought it would be the best to exercise all of our body. However, when we turned 10, Izuku insisted we also started musculation, which I eventually agreed on, since it also allowed us to exercise all muscles.

But most of the training was also in teaching him about dying will flames. I didn't tell him initially where I had got the ability from, but eventually, his curiosity got the better of me and I told him everything he needed to know about my original timeline.

His affinities are mainly sun and lightning flames, which isn't too surprising. I see how these flames are the one that fit him the most. As such, I trained him to harden his body to pack more of a punch, and how to use sun flames to strengthen his muscles. Seeing as he had sun flames, I of course trained him to use the maximum canon which made for a great secret technique.

I did ask him if he wanted to make his flames his quirk, and after a whole lot of thinking, at the age of 6, the boy named Izuku Midoriya was recognised to have a quirk called "muscle hardening", which allowed him to do exactly what the name said. Needless to say, his mom was ecstatic, and was very proud of him.

Seeing all those notebooks he had detailing the quirks of pro heroes and potential strategies with them, I thought he might be able to analyse my quirk given sufficient training. He asked me why it was so important to me, and I told him more about what the general had said.

"Could you help me get better?" He asked. "I want to help you out with your quirk, but you say I'm not good enough..."

"Of course, this is the whole purpose of this training." I answered. _Besides making you suffer of cour- _was not said because that's not true! Stop thinking this, you bloody rascals.

Where was I? Oh, yes that's right, training Izuku to identify and classify quirks better. To make his secret quirk – I always called it like that because he seemed so good with it – better, I taught him how to use one of the first techniques Gaster had trained me to use, albeit in a sort of watered-down version.

The technique was originally named the eyes of Cthulhu, as in the Eye of Cthulhu from the game Terraria. To be honest, I gave it that name as Gaster had always called "the eyes that see beyond normal eyes", which sounded a bit long to me and not cool enough to be one of my techniques. I had tried to use it in this world but the results were a massive headache and a blue box appearing out of nowhere to tell me that no, I wasn't supposed to use it.

This is why I created a version that I called "the eyes of the heart", since in this technique, you actually need to close your eyes to use it. The reason why it is less powerful is because of the fact you can't simultaneously use your normal eyes and the other eyes at the same time. It's also the reason I didn't use this version, because I couldn't get used to it.

One would wonder how I was able to devise such a technique even though I didn't have access to any other abilities than dying will flames. Well, the answer is quite simple. After seeing this green larvae of sorts when passing out, I decided to investigate who or what it was. It wasn't very talkative, but I managed to get out of it that it was an em-wave metroid, and that it was named Edward. "Using" him, I was able to use some of the techniques from my original world, including the eyes of Cthulhu.

Seeing as the eye of Cthulhu was a technique made to interact with em-wave being, it wasn't surprising I could use it.

However, this was the perfect technique for Izuku, since he didn't need to use it in a battle situation. It did prove to be one of the most difficult things to teach him though, since it wasn't a simple concept like flames that come from your will. As such, it took me one year to teach him how to use it, but it was well worth it.

When he used it in conjunction with his already great sense of observation, he was able to determine someone's quirk with scary precision, and he was even able to determine some of the weaknesses! However, using this on my quirk was a bit more difficult, given the nature of it. Eventually, he was able to tell me a whole lot of things on my quirk. The problem was I had already been able to guess everything he said, albeit with a bit less of precision.

He was very disappointed, and even after I told him it was alright, he still didn't want to let it go. To cheer him up, I suggested that we went to the mall together to eat and buy a couple of things.

"But Aojikan, we have exams coming at the end of the year!" He said, "And what if I can't get in to UA, or you can't, or what if we fail our exams, or..."

"Chillax, Deku, it's going to be fine." I answered, "We'll pass these exams and get into UA no problem. I mean, what was the point of all of this training if we can't even get in this bloody school?"

"Mm-m, you're right!" He yelled, "I'll ask my mom if I can go, but I'm sure she'll say yes."

"That's the spirit," I calmly said, as I turned my head to a familiar face. "What do you want, Bakugou?"

"You want to get into UA, you stupid nerds?" He demanded, "I'm sure they'll never let in pieces of shit like you!"

"Firstly, Bakugou, language." I answered, "Secondly, do you really think we don't have what it takes to get into UA? You might have a great quirk Bakugou, and our quirks might not be too flashy or impressive, but we know how to use them in a way that is sure to impress this school, or anyone else for that matter!"

"Pff, stupid nerds." He muttered as he walked away with a new pair of minions.

"My mom said I could come along." Izuku said, scaring me in the process, "Let's go, Aojikan!"

"Yeah, you're right." I answered, "Let's get away from these stupid guys."

After a "I heard this!" from Bakugou, we left school to go to the mall. We wandered about for a while, not really knowing what to do. Eventually, we got to a dark alleyway, and I still don't remember how we did it. What I do remember is that when we heard a girl's scream, we ran at full speed towards the sound of the scream.

We stopped right before getting in the action, because I wanted Izuku to identify the quirk of the aggressor and of the victim.

"Why would want to know the quirk of the victim though?" He muttered-asked.

"Because, if we're going to make a move, we need to know if the victim's quirk might be turned against us." I answered, still muttering.

"If you insist," He said, as he closed his eyes and focused, "There are two emitter type quirks, one of them is active. The unused one requires that 5 points to touch an entity to activate, while the one being used only requires a single touch."

"Correct Izuku!" I congratulated, as I saw through Edward's eyes, "Now, what is the nature of the active quirk?"

"The Winding most present is… slashing? No, it's sharpening!" Izuku muttered-yelled, as he realised the nature of the aggressor's quirk.

"Wonderful guess, Deku!" I said, getting ready to use my quirk and another technique, "Time to get into action. You ready?"

"Yes!" He answered, as he started holding onto me.

"Then, **Time manipulation: Slow-down! Times 1000!"**

As I said these words, the world slowed down around us, and we were quick to get into action. Stepping into the alleyway inside the alleyway, we run towards the aggressor and the victim. I give the signal to Izuku to take care of the victim, seeing as his muscle hardening should be enough to take care of her weight. Not that she looks particularly heavy.

"**Muscle hardening!"** Izuku screams as he lifts up the girl, and I'm still not sure if he realises nobody can here what he said because of the slow-down. At the very least, I know who he got this habit from.

As Izuku runs back to the main alleyway – what am I even saying – I proceed to give a well-deserved kick in the gut to the aggressor, which also makes him let go of his knife. After deactivating my quirk and having a small headache, I turn to see if Izuku and the girl we rescued are alright.

"Deku, you know that you can let go of her, right?" I ask, barely containing my laugh.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Izuku yells, as he panics and almost lets her fall.

"Thanks for saving me, I guess?" The girl says, unsure of what's happening.

I was about to ask what her name was and other questions of this nature, but I got rudely interrupted by the "villain".

"Oi, don't think you're saved yet, sweetheart!" He says creepily, as I can almost feel the discomfort of the poor girl, "Besides, who are these punks, thinking they can stop me, Dan of the thousands blades?"

"Your answer has the merit of giving your name to us," I reply, thinking that the nickname he gave probably was self-made, "However, I do want to point out the fact that we have already stopped you once, and that we are ready to do so again."

"Oh yeah?" He says, "You think you're gonna stop me, the grand Dan, whose quirk can make anything he touches into a deadly weapon, one that can slash through anything?"

"How amusing," I answer, "You think I hadn't prepared for this scenario? Of course I did, do you see anything in here in your range that could possibly be "sharpened"?"

"W-What?" he asks, "But there were at least 10 different objects here that I could use my quirk on to make a good weapon! And, where did all my knives go? Wait, no, that's impossible! You're not the one that has done this, are you?"

"Who else could have done it?" I ask-answered, "Your monologue was so long that it gave me plenty of time to get rid of any objects you could use as weapons. And your next line will be: "Impossible! How could you have done all of this without me seeing anything?""

"Impossible! How could you have done all of this without me seeing anything? Huh?" He said, falling into my prediction.

"And now, for the finale! **Slow-down! **And for an epic finish: **Maximum Cannon!" **I yelled as I punched with a healthy dose of sun flames.

Needless to say, after this, he didn't get up. We left him there, and we went back to the mall's main square. I finally remembered we hadn't properly introduced ourselves, so I said:

"Well well, it would seem we forgot the basics of politeness, but I think the fight we were in might explain it. The green-haired fellow over here is named Midoriya Izuku, and I am Wadokei Aojikan. And you are…?"

"Oh, of course! I'm Uraraka Ochaco!" She introduced herself, "Nice to meet you!"

"The pleasure is all ours, Mademoiselle Ochaco." I said, and instantly regretted. Did she think I was flirting with her? Oops.

"Aojikan, we said no French..." Izuku reminded, as I remembered one of the rules of our training.

However, before anyone could say anything else, our three stomachs cried for food at the same time. After not reacting for a while, we all laughed uncontrollably before calming down.

"Looks like we might need to eat soon, huh?" I said, "Deku, what's the name of that place you told me had really good food again?"

"It's called Katsu-heaven..." He answered, "But I don't know if you like katsudon, Ochaco?"

"I love it!" Ochaco excitedly said, "If it's really that great, we gotta go there!"

"Lead the way, Deku," I said, as he nodded, "I must wonder though, where do you come from? You don't sound like someone from Tokyo… That's not a bad thing of course!"

"Oh, you noticed?" She asked, as she started blushing – interestingly enough Izuku was starting to look over our way, "Well, I come from the countryside and I try to tone down my accent if I can…"

"You shouldn't," Izuku suddenly said, "It's a part of you, you shouldn't try to hide it!"

"Izuku's right," I continued "I must wonder how come you are here if you're from the countryside?"

"Oh, I'm gonna pass the UA entrance exams, 'cause I've always wanted to do that." She answered.

"I see, it seems clearer to me like that." I said, as we got closer to the katsudon place "Well, funnily enough, we're trying to get into UA as well! That's why we've been training for a while."

"Oh that's great!" she yelled, "We might be in the same class!"

"What do you say we talk about this around a meal?" Izuku asked, as we went in the restaurant.

"Yes, please!" I answered.

We've finally split ways to go back home. Was hard to do, since Izuku and Ochaco didn't want to split. I am now 100% sure that both of them will, if not have already fallen in love with each other. Thankfully, after sharing phone numbers, I convinced them we could talk at a later time, and we took the way back home.

I'm not sure how it happened, but we got under a dark bridge, and before any of us could do anything, we got attacked by a green slime. Apparently the universe has decided that one villain isn't enough for one day._ Sigh._

Well, at least I'm basically sure our secret technique will take care of this guy.

* * *

**A.N.:** Oh no, [Cliffhanger] attacks again! What can we possibly do- Yeah, I'm doing this again. It's too funny not to. I wish there were more reviews so I could see some of your theories, but I guess that day hasn't come yet. Oh well. I'll see you next for a new chapter of _The quirky adventures! _Have a nice day.

_"Oh, I am feeling the power! It high-fives Fawful's face!"_


	4. A slime and the number one hero

**Chapter 4: ****A slime and the number one hero**

One may wonder what was this secret technique I had thought of. Firstly, to use it, we needed to get out of the grip of Mr Slime over here. That was easier said than done, seeing as while we weren't tightly held, we also didn't have anything solid to to push and get out of the grip. However, since he was holding two persons at the same time, it would seem he was grabbing us very lightly compared to grabbing a single person. Because of this, the trick was to make him focus on one of us then get the other out.

As such, I slowed down time enough so the slime didn't hear us while still including Izuku. This was one of the most complex things I could do with my quirk, I could "select" individuals to not be affected without touching them. After explaining shortly, Izuku tried the best he could to get out, which made the villain break into laughter.

"This is so funny!" He said, "You think you can get out of my grip? Sorry lad, you ain't gettin' out of here any time soon!"

"Perhaps not, but he might." Deku replied, as I managed to get out in slowed time.

"And this, is how to get out of the grip of a villain!" I said, hoping Izuku was taking mental notes. "And your next line will be: "How? Nobody ever got out of my grip!""

"Excuse-me? How?" The slime asked, unsure of what was happening, "Nobody ever got out of my grip! Huh?"

"Eh, close enough," I said, "I guess this can count as a "I guessed what the enemy was about to say" moment. Now, before Izuku dies of suffocation, let's try and kick your… um, slime bottom? I'm not quite certain how you would say that…"

"You think you're funny, brat?" The villain asked.

"No," I answered, as I smirked, "I'm hilarious."

"I will make you suffer!"He said, as he jumped on me. What he didn't realise is that in the process of jumping on me, he stopped holding Izuku.

In my country, we call that a "bad idea". Scratch that, everybody would consider this a bad move, if they knew the abilities of Deku. And Izuku didn't fail to impress as he gave a lightning induced kick, which actually affected the villain. He looked absolutely floored and distracted so I took that time to do a flurry of attacks while in time stops, with cloud(**A.N.:** these flames have a "spread" property) and sun flames.

"And to finish it off:" I said, readying my fist, "**Maximum Sunshine Cannon!**" I yelled, the villain exploding into small blobs.

It's at this moment that Izuku and I noticed the presence of number one hero, All Might. Needless to say, it didn't take very long for Izuku to turn into full fanboy-mode, and ask for an autograph. I tried to calm him down, which was about as effective as you think it would be. It seemed that All Might thought this was hilarious, as he started to break down into laughter.

"If I may ask, what are your names, young men?" He asked, as he started to pick up the blobs and put them in a bottle.

"The green-haired fanboy is Midoriya Izuku, nicknamed "Deku"," I explained, noticing I had already used this introduction before, "And I am Wadokei Aojikan, professional JoJo reference artist." I said as I smirked.

"That's an interesting job you have," All Might wondered aloud, scratching his chin, "I for one do not no what JoJo is, but it seems interesting." I started to smile, as I readied my best references, "Besides that though, I must really praise you for taking this villain. I was going to intervene in the fight, but when I saw you were defending yourselves pretty well, I decided to let you finish him off."

"Wow, thank you Mr All Might!" Izuku said with sparkly eyes.

'How did I not get used to this already?' I sighed internally, "I thank you too, Mr All Might. I guess you should be leaving though, right?" I asked.

"Yes, I need to take this villain to the police," He said, as steam suddenly erupted from his body, "I really should be going now." He told us, as he started to cough blood.

"Mr All Might, are you all right?" Izuku asked, sounding very worried.

"I'm fine," He answered, "It'll go away."

"When you start coughing blood and steam erupts from your body, I think that's the definition of not being fine." I said sternly, "Mr All Might, we could accompany you to a hospital if you want."

"No, this won't be needed." He said, sounding like what he was saying was not to follow.

Before anyone else could say anything though, there was a giant eruption of steam. And when it cleared, all that Midoriya and I could see was a very skinny man, with only skin on the bones visible. When I saw that he was holding the same bottle, I deduced he was still the good old American hero.

Izuku was absolutely floored and couldn't believe the hero who inspired him was such a frail man. I think nothing had shocked him that much before. All Might left, without even a word. However, in a moment of clumsiness, he let the bottle fall. Nobody noticed this little incident, as we were too shocked to be concentrated.

* * *

Everything had gone fine today for Bakugou. Nothing perfect, but nothing horrible either, just another normal day for Katsuki Bakugou. Deku and Aojikan may have been annoying but that was always the case. He had gone to the arcade with his "minions" and he had even managed to beat the high-score – that he had set, of course. He decided to go back home as per usual, but unfortunately for him, he was attacked by a slime villain. He tried to fight back, and when heroes finally got into action, massive fires already existed. Because Bakugou.

Izuku and Aojikan were trying to get back home, while All Might was searching for the bottle he had lost. When the hero saw the fire, he thought that letting the bottle fall might have been one of the biggest errors of his career. But when he saw the two students he had met previously jumping in to try saving the kid, he quickly forgot about his past failures and did what he had to be done.

* * *

I don't know why we both jumped in action at that moment. Perhaps it was because we didn't want to let Bakugou die, perhaps it was to stop the fires, or perhaps it was just to save someone that was in need. Whatever it was, we didn't even have to tell each other what to do. We fell into position immediately, I slowed down time and we ran towards Bakugou full speed. Izuku gave the hardest kick he ever had given to someone, and the villain was sent flying.

Meanwhile, I took Bakugou and sent him to the other heroes. Izuku and I were about to attack the villain again, but we saw a buff-looking All Might jumping into the fray and yelling:

"**TEXAS SMASH!**"

The villain imploded into multiple blobs of slime, and the punch was so strong it changed the weather. _Literally._ The force of the punch made the clouds move and it started to rain. Business as usual for All Might.

What followed was a long period of interviews with journalists. Interestingly enough, most heroes praised Bakugou, but told us to be more careful next time. That made me quite angry, as we had literally saved him. I could accept the fact that Bakugou wasn't thanking us, but for the heroes to tell us that we had to be careful next time, that was too much.

After fighting through a crowd of journalists, we were finally able to go back home. Or at least, that's what we thought, until we saw All Might standing in our path, ready to give an epic speech – but then he coughed and turned back into a frail man.

"Mr All Might, if I may ask , what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Well, you see, I wanted to thank you." He answered.

"Thank us? But… why?" Izuku asked, not quite sure of what was happening, "We should be thanking you! You're the one who saved us!"

"Perhaps, but you're the ones who inspired me to get in the battle." All Might said, "Ever since I have been injured by a villain, my time limit for my hero form has been 3 hours per day. As such, when the time limit was over, I couldn't do anything and, over time, I became cold. If my time limit was over, then I thought that it wasn't my responsibility any more.

"However, when I saw you move in like this to save your friend, I remembered why I had become a hero. It wasn't to save some people every day, it was to save every person that I could save. You reminded me of this, and for this I thank you."

"Mr All Might!" Izuku yelled, as he started crying.

"Oh come on Deku!" I said, letting a few tears escape too.

After calming down the both of us, All Might asked where we learned to use our quirks so well.

"We learned on our own." I answered.

"On your own?!" He said, incredibly shocked. "You've got to be kidding me, right? How?"

"Truth is, We've got a secret too." I started to explain, "Deku's 'quirk' isn't a quirk. It's actually something called Dying Will Flames. I believe that if we taught them to you, you might be able to heal your wound."

"But how do you know those flames?" All Might asked.

"I don't come from here." I said, "And by this I don't mean I was born in another country. What I mean is that I have been transported here from another timeline following a fight with someone. As such, I know of supernatural powers other than quirks, and I was able to train Izuku to use them. Because of this, even if people think he has a quirk, this is technically incorrect, since the powers I have taught him are not quirks."

"That's a lot to take in…" All Might said, "But I believe, young Wadokei! Nobody would be able to invent such a deep lie to explain anything, and I don't see what you would like to justify with this. Besides, I know you have a pure heart. To run without thinking to save someone in need, this is the true nature of a hero! You two would like to become heroes, right?"

"Of course!" We both said at the same time.

"I imagine you want to go to UA right?" He asked, "I can help you train if you want. But before this, there is one last secret I must tell you. My quirk is called One for All. It is a quirk that was passed down through the generations, all to defeat the villain that injured me. I used to be quirkless, but now I am the number one hero, the symbol of peace.

This is why I will give you my quirk, Izuku. I have been searching for a successor for a long time now, and I know you don't actually have a quirk, so it makes me believe you should be the one to inherit it. Of course, Wadokei, you could perhaps be my successor, but…"

" "You already have a quirk anyway", is that right?" I said, smirking as usual, "Besides, I don't want your quirk. Izuku deserves it a lot more than I do. And I don't think I'll stay in this timeline."

"I understand, it is only natural to want to go back home." He said, "I must wonder though, how will you be able to go back?"

"The only solution the idiot who sent me here gave me is my quirk." I said, feeling frustrated yet again at my failures, "Except I have not been able to find the way to use it to change timelines. As such, I'm stuck here until I can find something."

"Well, I can always try to help you as we train." All Might, trying to brighten the mood, "Do you already have a training plan we can try and follow, or should I…"

"Mr All Might! Please suggest your own plan!" Izuku suddenly yelled, the bottled up fear of my training surfacing, "I'm begging you, Wadokei's plan is to severe!"

"I would like to address a few facts here," I said, "Firstly, it's not my training plan, it's my mentor's plan. Secondly, I'm not closed to us changing it, but I think it's not as terrible as you're saying. I mean, it can hurt at times, but isn't too bad either."

"We shall see about that," All Might said, clearly not having been ready for Deku's sudden outburst, "I will just take your phone numbers, so we can prepare the next session of training. We will start with a test of your abilities, even though they seem really good. With the results, I will determine if you are ready to receive my quirk, because One for All requires a strong and fit body."

"Don't you worry about that, Mr All Might," I said, "He's at peak physical form thanks to our training."

"Good," He said, "I think we should all be leaving soon, right?"

After exchanging phone numbers, we went on our own ways. I couldn't believe All Might of all people was ready to train us, but as Gaster had told me: "You are incredibly lucky – or unlucky, depending on who you ask, Paul."

The training wouldn't be easy, but with my goal of getting back to my timeline, there was no stopping me!

* * *

**A.N.: **I managed to finish this chapter in time! A good thing, because I won't be able to write this afternoon. On other note, it's the holidays! (in France, in a specific zone) What does this mean for you? Well, normally, it means I can write more than usual! I will perhaps try to upload a chapter of The quirky adventures on Sunday, as usual, and on the week days, I'll try to upload more pokemon one shots!

Also, small note on the dying will flames, and the possibility of magic in this story. Because this fanfic is written with a big crossover in mind, I will try to explain everything that I can about the abilities of the characters, so you can understand the story without having to go on other sites. I will perhaps do it at the end of the fan fiction, so it remains fluid, with small marks to go to the explanation. PM if it wasn't clear.

With this out of the way, have a nice week, and see you next time for the next chapter of the quirky adventures!

_A WINNER IS YOU!_


	5. Even more training, and a boring exam

**Chapter 5: ****Even more training, and a boring exam**

The next time we saw All Might, it was at the Dagoba Municipal Beach park at 6 am. This sounds about as painful as it was, since waking up at 5:30 is never fun. I also think I had never seen my mother glare at me this much, but I believe that any sane person wouldn't be excited about losing 2 hours of sleep.

The Dagoba beach was once wonderful but it had turned into a garbage dump for unknown reasons. The way it had turned into a garbage dump didn't matter though, since I was absolutely certain our training would require us to clean it up at one point or another.

Surprisingly, the test wasn't about lifting a certain amount of garbage or anything like that. It had two parts: a 40 km race in laps around the beach, to measure both our endurance and speed, and a weight-lifting test, to measure if we were stupid enough not to realise what it was about – still not sure about this though.

Now, one could easily wonder how we managed to do 40 km in 2 hours. My quirk of course! But a more attentive person could ask how I was able to use my quirk for 2 hours straight. Truth is, I 'cheated', or to be more appropriate, I used a technique that I call 'Stop and go'. The principle is very simple: use quirk for 2 or 3 seconds, then stop using it for 1 or 2 seconds. The biggest advantage with it is that I can use my quirk over long periods of time without needing paracetamol every 3 minutes.

However, the drawback is that I am technically vulnerable to enemy attack – though most people wouldn't even notice I'm vulnerable. Even if someone could see that I'm vulnerable, they probably wouldn't be able to capitalize on it. This is why I use my quirk in conjunction with this technique all the time.

After around 15 minutes of running, we moved on to the weight-lifting test. I was able to lift around 75 kilogrammes without sun flames, while Izuku was able to lift 100. All Might was surprised when I told him I wanted to take the test again with sun flames, because he thought that since I had a quirk, I couldn't use them.

With sun flames, I was able to lift 400 kilogrammes, while Izuku was only able to lift 300. With this, the test was over and All Might told us:

"Let's meet tomorrow, same place, same time."

"All Might, you said-" Izuku started to say.

"All Might? Where is he?" Some people said.

"Sorry, wrong person!" Izuku yelled, remembering what All Might had said about talking in public, "Sorry, Mr Toshinori, I forgot again…"

"I don't know if I'll be able to keep my identity secret with you…" He sighed, "What was your question though?"

"Oh, yes, I was about to say that you promised to make the training easier for us…" Izuku answered.

"He never said that," I interrupted, "He only promised us it would be different."

Izuku was about to say something, but he realised I was right and reluctantly agreed to come the next day.

* * *

After making my whole family wake up at half past 5 yet again – I think my mom will kill me if I keep this up -, I went to the beach after meeting up with Izuku. When we got there, we saw a moody All Might, looking like he was having a bad day.

"Hello Mr Toshinori!" We both said together.

"Oh, hello, young boys." He replied.

"You don't look alright… Is there something on your mind?" I asked.

"Actually, there is. I do not want to give you my quirk yet, young Midoriya," All Might said, "Your body still isn't ready for it."

"W-What? No way…" Izuku said, being disappointed.

"However…" He said

"Someone helping you out doesn't agree with you, right?" I asked.

"Precisely." He answered, "Gran Torino, my mentor, has been helping me ever since I told him about you two. He agrees that young Midoriya is the one who should inherit my quirk. However, we don't agree on when to give the quirk. As I've said previously, your body still isn't ready for One for All, young Midoriya. But Gran Torino doesn't think this is a problem, as I wasn't completely ready for it either when I received it.

"After a long debate last night, we reached a compromise. I will give you my quirk after two months of physical training with myself. In return, Gran Torino will train Wadokei for this period of time, so that you're both ready to train together. Ultimately, of course, our goal is that you pass the UA entrance exams. Does this sound good?"

"This does sound good," I answered, "However, I do have a question. Would it be possible to have a week of common training, before we split up?" I asked.

"I'll ask Gran Torino, but I believe this should be possible." He answered, "If I may ask, why do you want to train together for a week?"

"Oh, it's quite simple really," I said, "Deku's performance with dying will flames was simply too disappointing, and we need to get around teaching you flames anyway, so it would kill two birds with one stone."

"If you say so," All Might said, "I guess this is a pretty good idea, I'm sure Gran Torino will agree. You're dismissed until Monday next week, but feel free to ask any questions if you have some. Now, if you excuse me, I must go. Goodbye!"

And with this, he left. After watching the sunrise, we went to school, tired and exhausted. Nothing interesting happened, so I decided to use my quirk to make time go faster, and instead of the normal five hours, it felt more like five minutes.

* * *

Monday morning, I left home without a single noise. Thankfully, my mother didn't notice me getting up, so I got to live another day. _Great. _On the way to the beach, I met Izuku, mumbling to himself as per usual.

"Hey, Deku!" I greeted.

"Oh, hi Aojikan!" He replied, a bit surprised.

We talked about insignificant stuff until we got to the beach. All Might and Gran Torino were already there, and they greeted us. After warming-up, I asked Izuku to be my example, so that All Might could actually see what I was talking about while I was explaining.

"As I've already told you, dying will flames are different from quirks, so anyone can use them." I explained, "They exist in seven types, but you don't need to know all of them. Sun flames are the one that can heal your wounds, because they have the 'Activation' characteristic." I said, as Izuku showed them in his hand.

"How could flames heal his wound?" Gran Torino asked, thinking he was the voice of reason or something.

"Reasonable question, but I was about to get there." I said, not liking the interruption, "When someone wants to heal another with sun flames, instead of burning the other person, the flame will activate the cells of the body, causing to multiply and heal the wound. Mr Toshinori, please lift your t-shirt so Izuku can heal it."

All Might obliged, completely trusting us, and Izuku touched the wound with the flame in his right hand. Immediately, the flames started to activate the cells, and the wound started to heal. Needless to say, Gran Torino looked like he was doubting everything he had learned about biology and physics – it was hard for me to remain serious while looking at his face.

I told Izuku to stop, and I started to examine the wound. Izuku had done a pretty good job of healing it up, if not a bit imperfect. I took matters into my own hand by lighting up strong flames in my hands, as I remembered what Gaster had told me about sun flames: "If you stay determined, no wounds will resist these flames."

I started to move in circles around the wound, putting more and more intensity in the flames as I came close to the centre. After 2 minutes, I decided that the wound had healed enough already, and finally released the flames. I was a bit exhausted, as it had been a long time since I had used dying will flames, and I had put lot of energy in them.

In the end, his wound wasn't completely healed, but a small flame had lit up on his forehead. Instinctively, he turned into his muscle form, and he said:

"This power… It healed me… I feel new again, like my injuries have disappeared forever… These Dying will flames, as you call them, they have saved me, they have saved the symbol of peace!"

"Quite true," I said, "Especially considering you managed to go dying will mode without the help of any technology. If you are able to do this again, I believe that even after giving One for All to Izuku, you can stay symbol of peace for as long as you feel it is necessary. If you cannot, I have been able to make the technology needed to transform into it, so no worries. However, since Izuku keeps disappointing me, I guess I have no choice but to use this bullet him."

"Eh? Aojikan, what are you talking about?" Izuku aksed, starting to panic, "You must be kidding me, right?"

"I'm not," I said, seeing the flame on All Might's forehead had almost disappeared, "Toshinori's flame is diminishing… I guess that's two bullets then. Izuku, All Might, clean the beach with your dying will!" As I said this, my Metroid turned into a gun, and I shot two bullets.

They both instantly turned into dying will mode, and they started to clean the beach. By this time, Gran Torino had stopped thinking, or at least that's what I thought, considering the dead look in his eyes. Thankfully though, he wasn't moving through space, so it wasn't a JoJo reference. _Yet._

After Izuku and All Might had cleaned the beach, the flames on their foreheads started to subside. Gran Torino, proving he had in fact not been in a Kars accident, spoke up.

"Toshinori, I believe we were both wrong. Those kids are monsters, both of them. We were wrong to debate on whether or not Izuku should have One for All, because clearly we can't give it to Wadokei.

"How did you get this gun anyway?" he whispered to me.

"Confidential information," I replied silently, "But don't worry, nobody sold it to me. Only another ability I know how to use."

"If anything, this only worries me more…" He sighed, "I'll have to keep an eye on you."

"Gran Torino is correct, Young Midoriya," All Might said, not having heard our little conversation, "You are more than ready to take One for All. However, I must remind you that the journey will not be easy. You will fight villains that will try to kill you. Being the symbol of peace requires you to be always training, and it won't be easy knowing you can't save everyone. Knowing all of this, are you still ready to take my quirk, young Midoriya?"

"Yes," Izuku said, "This is what I've wanted my whole life!"

"Good," All Might said, "I'm proud of you, Midoriya. Let's get started. Eat this strand of hair."

"EH?!" Izuku screamed, not knowing what was happening.

"Mr All Might, you have disappointed me." I said, "I thought you could make better jokes than this."

"What? You must be misunderstanding me," All Might quickly said, "Young Midoriya, you need to ingest my DNA so that I can transfer One for All to you, and I don't want us to exchange through saliva…" All Might said, seemingly embarrassed.

"Oh my gosh, this is so funny!" I said, rolling on the beach, trying to contain my laughter, "'tis comedy gold my friends! That's how you make a joke!"

After calming me down with a kick, Gran Torino asked Izuku to get over with it and eat the damn hair. While Izuku ate, the mentor scolded his old student for being an idiot who had no idea how traumatising this could be. I would have laughed again, but receiving a kick to the face had put me in a bad mood.

After this whole scene, we remembered that we had school, so we told All Might and Gran Torino we were leaving.

"Ah yes, we forgot you still had school," All Might said, "I guess we'll meet up again tomorrow."

"Yes, see you tomorrow," Gran Torino said, "We'll start training both of your quirks so you can actually be ready for the exam in time." He explained.

"I guess we'll have to call her earlier then." He whispered to All Might.

"Yes this is true," He whispered back, "Anyway, goodbye young boys!"

"Goodbye!" We both said as we left.

Clearly, this training was going to be interesting.

* * *

_Day of the exam, 7 am_

It has been ten months since we've started training. Earlier today we had our last session, and I must say that I'm a bit stressed about the exam. The written part won't be difficult at all, that's for sure, but I'm a bit worried about the practical exam. Depending on what it is, my quirk may or may not be useful, and using my flames even within my quirk is a bit dangerous, as the teachers could start asking about what my real quirk is.

Seems like I won't have too long to worry though, as we finally go out of the train, and we're now in front of the gates of UA. Really looks more impressive in real huh? Even when you know how they were designed, it doesn't stop to be amazing.

We started to move on, but apparently Izuku had stayed in his thoughts for too long and he tripped over a rock. I was about to save him, but a familiar face beat me to it. She touched him and he started to float in the air.

"Release!" she said, as she put her fingers together, "Are you alright?"

"Ochaco!" Izuku said, "Thanks for saving me! I think I'm all right."

"We meet again, Uraraka Ochaco! It's only natural I guess, since you're taking the exam too." I said, "How are you doing?"

"Fine, thank you!" She answered, "It's been so long we haven't seen each other! I miss last time." She said, as I used my quirk to go behind her.

"And Izuku." I whispered into her ear, as I went back to my previous position, Izuku not noticing it.

"Ochaco, are you okay?" Izuku said, "Your face is red."

"I'm completely fine! Don't you worry Izuku!" She replied, blushing even harder. "Well, I'll be seeing you in the exam hopefully!" She said, as she went in the building.

"Guess we should better get in too," I said, after a moment of silence, "We wouldn't want to be late, would we?"

"Of course not!" Izuku answered, "Let's go!"

We entered in the building, which was as impressive from the inside than it was from the outside. We went into lecture hall and we were given the written exams. It found it very easy – especially the maths, but I'm sure you don't find that surprising. Izuku, Bakugou and I were next to each other, and from what I could tell, they didn't find it difficult either.

Once all the papers were collected, we moved on to the practical exam. The person that presented the rules was none other than Present Mic, professional hero and presentor of the weekly hero show on the radio. His quirk, as presented by Izuku – in fanboy mode yet again – was 'Voice', meaning he could yell very loudly. Loud enough to _fight _people, that is.

"How are you doing?" Present Mic yelled, probably using his quirk.

"…"

"Wow, such a cold audience… You've broken my heart." He 'whispered' – whispering for Present Mic is basically what someone would call talking, "Well, it doesn't matter. The practical exam is a very simple task: you must destroy 'villains' in the form of robots. They exist in four types, that give 1, 2 or 3 points. The goal of the exam is, of course, to gain the most points possible in the given time."

"Sir, I have something to say." A tall boy said as he stood up, "I believe that you said there are four types of robots, but you said that the points range from 1 to 3 points. This means that you have forgotten to talk about one of the types of robots, which is a grave error for a recognized institution like UA!"

"Sit down, student #1618033," Present Mic said, "I was about to get to this. The fourth type of robot is worth 0 points. As you can see, it is the biggest robot, so you should probably consider it an obstacle. I'm sure you're not able to break it anyways."

"I take that as a challenge." I whispered to Izuku, who didn't respond.

"It will roam in the exam zone once the first five minutes are over," Present Mic explained, "The best strategy is to run away if you see it. The zones in which you will pass the exam are indicated on your tablet. The hero costumes that you were asked to design are in the changing rooms next to the exam fields. I'm gonna give you an advice if you want to pass the exam: believe in yourself, and as we say in UA, Plus Ultra!"

I saw that the three of us had been affected to different zones, so I said goodbye to Izuku and Bakugou. I moved on to ground beta, and proceeded to change into my PE clothes.

After exiting the changing room, I looked around to see if I recognized anyone. I didn't, so I just decided to stand beside the door. The exam finally started, and I ran into the field using my quirk. It looked like nobody understood that the exam had started, so Present Mic told them something like "Get going already!". Meanwhile, I had started to search for robots. I only found 2 or 3 robots worth 1 point, but I didn't bother to get them, because it was hard to get multiple robots with my quirk.

I finally found a 3-point robot, and I started using a strategy I had planned in the changing room. It was very simple: the program that ran the robots was not used to a drastic change in the flow of time, which meant that if I changed the flow of time 2 or 3 times per 3 seconds, their programs would fail and I would get points as if I had just broken them.

It took only a few seconds to make this robot bug, and I searched for other robots to repeat the same procedure. By the end of the exam, according to my estimates, I had 84 points, 63 of which were obtained with only 3-point robots. I was about to search for more robots when I heard a girl screaming.

While I was heading in the direction of the scream, I saw people running in the other direction. Intrigued, I decided to look in front of me, and I saw none other than the 0 point robot, that was about to step on a girl with green hair. Seeing that she couldn't run away, I jumped into action. I used my quirk to slow down time, and using sun flames, I climbed it _Shadow of the Colossus _style. Once I got on his head, I used the same strategy I had on the other robots until it failed.

After verifying if the robot hadn't rebooted or something, I jumped down – while slowing time, I didn't want to break my ankle too – and I went to see if the girl I had just saved was alright. Before I could say anything, a siren rang in the air, notifying us of the end of the exam. I was a bit disappointed that I hadn't been able to get more points, but I believe what I got was more than enough to get into UA. I finally remembered why I had taken down the robot, and said to the girl:

"Hi there, are you alright?"

"Hello, I think I'm alright… Are you the one who saved me? I think I saw you on the robot..." She said, looking a bit shy.

"Yes, I'm the one who saved you." I said, "But don't think too much about it. I'm sure anyone would have done the same thing if they were in my situation."

"Don't say that..." She said, "I don't think everyone would have done this… It was really kind of you to save me, um… What's your name again?"

"Oh sorry, I believe I haven't properly introduced myself yet." I replied, feeling dumb, "I'm Pau- sorry, I meant Wadokei Aojikan." She looked at me deeply, like she recognized me? Probably just a coincidence.

"I'm Kat- sorry, I meant Shiozaki Ibara," She said, after shaking her head, "Thanks again for saving me, Aojikan."

"You're welcome, Ibara," I said, looking at her ankle, "I believe you have a twisted ankle… Would you like me to check it? I might just be able to heal it."

"Sure, feel free to look at it." She said, smiling.

"Does it hurt if I do this?" I said as I took her ankle and turned it lightly.

"Ah yes, it hurts a lot!" She screamed, tears in her eyes.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you." I said, feeling a bit guilty, "Just checking how twisted it is. I think I can heal this no problem. Please wait for a bit."

"Ok." She replied, completely trusting me.

I decided it didn't hurt to use my flames right in front of her, because the exam was already over and I had heard her hesitate when she told me her name. Gaster had told me it was a sure fire way of knowing if someone was from another timeline. Especially since she had almost said Kate, the name of my girlfriend, but I was pretty much sure it wasn't her. I had hesitated myself, because she looked a lot like my girlfriend.

I lit up a sun flame in my hand, and I carefully touched her ankle. After a few seconds, I stopped the flames, and I checked if she was able to turn her ankle or not. Of course, with such a light wound, the flames had healed her almost instantly and she was able to stand up and walk again.

"Wow, thanks a lot!" She said, looking absolutely amazed.

"You're welcome," I said for the second time, "I would like to know how you got this injury though?"

"Oh, it's surprisingly stupid." She said, "With my quirk, I can extend my hair to use them as vines that can attack or immobilize someone. When I saw that huge robot coming, I was so terrified that when I ran away, I accidentally used my quirk, and tripped on my own vines!"

"Quite the funny story," I said, as we started to head for the exit, "That's something that couldn't happen to me though… Can I see you afterwards at the gates? I would like to take your phone number if you don't mind?"

"Of course!" She answered, nodding, "I'll see you later!"

"See you!" I said, as we entered in the changing rooms.

I put my normal clothes back on, and I joined Izuku and Ochaco on the way as we left. Apparently, Izuku had used his quirk on the 0-point robot to save Ochaco, not without putting his arm and his legs into a bloody state. I understood that he had used One for All at 100%, and I knew that Recovery Girl had probably scolded him when healing him. She had a quirk that allowed her to heal people, and had joined us in our training on the first week. We had learned that she was working for UA.

In front of the gates, we met up with Ibara, and took our phone numbers to plan out a day at the mall. I wanted to talk to her alone, so I told Izuku and Ochaco that they could leave without us.

Ibara and I got out of UA, somewhere around the train station, and I asked in english:

"Are you Kate Astragon?"

"Yes, that would be me!" She answered, smirking, "And you must be Paul Johnson then, right?"

"Correct!" I said, knowing that we were going to have a long conversation with each other.

* * *

**A.N.: **This is currently the longest chapter I have written for any of my fanfics! Achievement unlocked, I guess? I would have written another pokemon one shot this week, but I didn't have any ideas… So instead I decided to write this extra-long chapter. Thanks as always for reading it, and I'll see you next time for a new chapter of _The quirky adventures_!

PS: For those of you that want to understand the flame mechanics a bit better, either watch _Reborn_ if you haven't done so already (it's a great anime) or go on the reborn wiki, dying will flames page.

_"I say to you YES!"_


	6. First days at school

**Chapter 6: ****First days at school**

"Kate… I've missed you so much!" I said, hugging her tightly.

"I missed you too…" She said, a few tears in her eyes, "What do you say we try to talk around a cup of tea?"

"Yes, that's a good idea." I said, having cried a bit myself, "We wouldn't want people discovering who we are, right?"

"Do you have an idea of where we could go?" She asked.

"I can ask my mom if you can come over." I answered, taking out my phone, "I'm sure she won't mind… Oh come on! Why won't you work?"

"Did you install Linux on your phone again?" Kate asked, smirking.

"Of course I did! Who do you think I am?" I answered immediately, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world – because it was -, "Oh, it works now. Probably a driver problem. Well, just let me call my mom." I said as I called her.

"Hello sweetheart," Mom said as she answered, "How did the exam go?"

"Pretty good, but I'm sure I could have done better…" I said, "But I think saving a girl is better than getting a few points."

"Oh? You saved a girl…" She said, and I'm basically sure he was smirking, "Are you calling me because you want to know if she can come over?"

"I-I… Um, yes…" I said, my face as red as a tomato.

"Knew it! She can come over if you want…" She replied, "She can even sleep over if she wants… But I'm sure you're too shy to ask her that."

"Um, thanks mom." I said, still blushing madly, "I'll see you later."

"See you!" She said. I felt so embarrassed that I could barely talk.

"Hey, Paul, you know I heard all of that conversation?" Kate said, "Sleeping over does sound nice…" That was too much. I just couldn't take it anymore, and I think I fainted.

* * *

When I got up again, I was on the couch in my apartment. After thinking for a while about how I got here, I remembered what Kate had said before I fainted. 'Oh no' I thought, feeling very scared.

I turned my head around and I saw Kate was talking to my mom. Mom had taken out a photo album, and I knew things had to be stopped if I didn't want to faint again from embarrassment.

"Oh, you're awake!" Mom said, smiling, "I hope you don't mind me taking out the photos…" I did mind, but I knew she didn't care, "You can only blame that on being a sleepyhead!"

"How long did I sleep?" I asked, fearing the worst.

"Around 2 hours." Kate answered, looking like she was hiding something. "You really scared me when you fainted… Thank goodness you're okay."

"Sorry about that…" I said, "Are you alright, Ibara? Something feels off about you…" She looked at me, as if this was the thing not to ask. I saw my Mom had a serious look on her face, and Kate finally spoke up.

"I've told your mom about where we come from, Paul." She said, and I didn't know how to react, "I'm so sorry, it's just… I was trying to explain how I transported you, but then I… I said your name by accident, and I thought it would be wrong to keep lying, and…"

"It's alright, Kate, you made the right decision." I said, feeling conflicted about myself, "I should have told her already, but… I just couldn't do it… Thanks, Kate."

"We've talked about a lot, Aojikan," Mom said, "I forgive you… I'm sure that I probably wouldn't have believed you if you had told me. But we can't change the past anyway, so let's try to make the best of what's left!"

"Mom…" I said, tears in my eyes, "I'm so sorry… all these years, I told you about how great the love of Christ felt, but I didn't even apply to my own life…"

"It's alright, Aojikan," She said, as she hugged me, "It doesn't matter anymore. It's over now, so you can start over again."

"Thanks mom, that really means a lot to me." I replied, feeling a bit better now.

"Hey, I don't want to interrupt you or anything, but I'm sure we have a lot to talk about with Paul, right?" Kate said.

"Yeah, you're right," I said, getting out of my mom's hug, "Have you told her everything that she needs to know?"

"Yup, basically everything." Kate said, "I'm sure you're curious as to how I got here, Paul."

"I am," I replied, feeling very curious, "Can you leave us alone for a while, mom?"

"Of course," mom answered, "A young couple needs private time."

"Mom!" I said, blushing madly.

She finally left us alone after bringing us some tea. Kate jumped on the couch almost instantly, and she cuddled me. I reluctantly joined in, as we looked in each other's eyes. She then kissed me, which surprised me quite a lot.

"Kate…" I said after we kissed.

"Paul…" She said, still cuddling me, "You still lack initiative, don't you?"

"Guess I do." I replied, blushing a bit, "Can you tell me how you got here? I'm a bit curious…"

"Sure," She said, as she stopped cuddling, "There we go. It's easier to tell you from this position. So, where to start… Let's start from the end of the fight. As you know, when the general pulled out the time stone, we were both in his attack range. I didn't think he'd caught you in his spell, and I guess you didn't either. I don't know what he told you in the void, but he told me I was going to die alone in this time line."

"He told me something similar, but I think he didn't have any control over our fate." I said, "I also thought that you hadn't been affected by his spell. At first, I thought he was teleporting only one of us, and keeping a spectator role. However, considering you're here and considering he was using a weaker version of the spell, I believe he must have teleported himself in this time line too."

"Triangle stability, right?" Kate said, "My master told me about it. Anyway, after getting teleported, I met my new mom and dad. Oh, I guess this might interest you, they are Christians. I tried to discover more about this world, and I managed to awaken my dying will flames almost instantly. But they didn't classify it as my quirk, as my vine hair developed before I was successful in awakening them. I didn't have lots of friends, except perhaps Ochaco, who you already met. And I've already told you about the exam, so I think I said everything you needed to know."

As she was saying all of this, I was silently nodding and drinking my tea. Once she was finished, I told her about what had happened to me. In the void with the general, Izuku and Bakugou, my quirk and how it was apparently a solution to get out of this time line, meeting All Might, teaching him sun flames, and the exam. I also told her about Edward, the EM wave Metroid.

Finally, I told her that I was trying to classify this timeline's system of ability, and I told her any help would be appreciated. After thinking for a while, she spoke up.

"Well, that's a lot to take in…" She said, "I can try to help you with the system of ability, but you know I'm not a math genius or anything."

"It doesn't matter," I said, "It will be like that time I did a lecture on dying will flames, you just need to proof read it so it's more understandable, and to point out errors."

"I'll try, but I'm not promising anything." She said, "Oh, and by the way, I forgot to tell you, but I told Ochaco about where I come from, so we should tell Izuku and her that we come from the same time line."

"I completely agree with you," I said, nodding, "This will make conversations so much easier…"

"That's right." She said, thinking for a while before speaking up again, "Oh yes, I've thought of a different way you could use your quirk! You told me you can make time go faster or slower, right? Then, why don't you accelerate time so much that ten years pass for you, like the ten years bazooka?"

"That's right!" I said, suddenly remembering the time we saw the Vongola family, "I had never thought to much about my ability to accelerate time. But there is one problem though… If I just use my powers to move forward ten years, then it won't do anything specific, right? Also, what if I'm not able to use my quirk for so long?"

"I can think of a solution for both of these problems," She said, "As you know, the ten years bazooka instantly switches you with your version from ten years later. This means that you need to use your quirk in a spell, preferably enhanced by dying will flames. Once you have concentrated your quirk's power into a seal, you activate it, and it will work the same way as the ten years bazooka."

"Kate, this is why I want you to help me on the system of abilities." I said, smiling, "You're so much more pragmatic than me. This technique may require training, but it might teach us useful principles on how to get out of this time line."

"Thank you, Paul." Kate said, blushing a bit, "You're really too kind…"

"No I'm not! You're underestimating yourself. Whenever we speak, you always…" I started to say, but then she shut me up with a kiss.

We cuddled again, and we didn't talk about anything for a while. We just appreciated being together after such a long separation. Eventually, she had to leave as her mom didn't agree with the sleepover idea – but apparently she'd told Kate it could be fine once we got to know each other a little more. _Gulp._ Once she left and once we had eaten, I went on the group chat we had created with Izuku, Ochaco and Kate.

**7:31 PM**

**The time wizard: Hi everyone! How are you doing? Was just wondering when we would go to the mall. I'm free on any day, but I think Thursday would be nice.**

_**Deku, Ochaco and Vine are online.**_

**Deku: Thursday seems nice, but I'm free any day of the week.**

**Ochaco: I'm free on Thursday too!**

**Vine: I just asked my mom, Thursday seems like a good day.**

**The time wizard: Good grief, I don't think I've seen the word Thursday that many times before… Well, have a good evening, and see you on Thursday. **

**Deku: Good evening! See you.**

**Ochaco: See you!**

**Vine: See you on Thursday, and may God bless you.**

**The time wizard: Thank you! To you too. See you on Thursday!**

_**Deku, Ochaco and Vine have gone offline.**_

I finally relaxed a bit. One time on earth, I had tried to organise a table top RPG, and it took us three weeks to actually find a correct date. I was scared this was going to happen again, but I guess we are still on holidays, so we have more time.

Kate had surprised me with her message at the end, but I knew that was to be expected. I remember that when I talked to her earlier, she had said her family we Christian, which must mean something. She was also very open to the fact I had tried to talk about the gospel to mom and dad. They had finally come to listen to me after so many years, and knowing that she was Christian too made me very happy.

* * *

On Thursday morning, we received a letter from UA. My parents told me to open it, and when I did, there was a small disk in it. I put on the table, and pressed a button. A hologram of All Might appeared and he said:

"**I AM HERE AS A PROJECTION!**" Oh come on, I thought you'd stopped saying that! – really cool though, "Now, you might be wondering why I'm here, but it turns out I'm going to be a teacher at UA!" My parents are astonished, but I'm used to seeing him every day, so I just find it neat.

"Now, about your performance in the exam, young Aojikan, I must say it was wonderful. You have, of course, scored first, with a record-breaking score of 135 points!" Dad was unlucky enough to be drinking coffee when Yagi said that, so he spitted everything – not on the disk, thankfully.

"You must be wondering how you got so many points when you didn't get as many points from the robots." See, this is how you make a JoJo reference! "Well, it turns out there was a second category of points: Rescue points! Let's watch an example of these points in this slowed-down video." Interesting, UA was able to take my quirk into consideration.

A television screen was turned on, which meant that this hologram had officially got meta, with a recording in the recording. The video showed Kate with her sprained ankle struggling to run away from the robot. Then, they changed cameras, and it showed me running towards the robot.

I then jumped on it, and climbed it up. Now that I was seeing it in video format, I guess it really was _Shadow of the Colossus _style. Noice. There was another change of camera, and it showed me using my quirk to make the robot bug. However, it seems that the camera itself started to bug out, so the video cut out before I climbed down the robot.

My parents were astonished yet again, but before they could say anything, Holo Might – that sounds funny – started to talk again:

"This is, of course, what landed you the biggest amount of rescue points, but you did rescue other people too."

As he said that, a graph titled 'Examination results' appeared:

5th place: Ibara Shiozaki(Villain:36/ Rescue:32): 68 points

4th place: Ochaco Uraraka(Villain:28/ Rescue: 45): 73 points

3rd place: Katsuki Bakugou(Villain:77/ Rescue: 0): 77 points

2nd place Izuku Midoriya(Villain: 42/ Rescue: 60): 102 points

And in First place: Aojikan Wadokei(Villain: 84/ Rescue: 71): 135 points.

Bakugou's score didn't surprise me at all, but now I was absolutely certain he was going to kill Izuku the next time that he'll see him, because I'm sure he won't be able to process the fact that Izuku beat by 25 points. Guess I'll have to stop him.

"You managed not only to pass, but also to score first place. You also have the biggest amount of Rescue and Villain points, which is quite impressive. Finally, you were the most efficient candidate, with the most 3 points robots taken down, which represents ¾ of your Villain points." My parents had already taken me in their arms, and they have started to cry rivers. Holo Might turns back to face me.

"Congratulations, young Aojikan. This your hero academia." And with this, the hologram ends.

I carefully take it into my hands, and after freeing myself from my parents' hug, I go to my room to copy the folder to my pc. Because any new piece of technology needs studying, of course. I mean, I am a geek after all – and proud to be one.

Almost instantly, I receive messages on the group chat to congratulate me for scoring first place. After all of this happened, I proceed to go to the mall to meet up with everyone.

Once we found a good café to eat at, Kate and I tell Izuku and Ochaco that we come from the same timeline, and they are very surprised. They are a bit doubtful, but Kate decides to prove it by kissing me on the cheek, which makes me blush madly. Thankfully, the rest of the day is not as embarrassing, as we have a fun time together.

Well, at least, before villains start to attack the café we were staying at. This is my third encounter with villains before UA, and it's the second time Izuku, Ochaco and I have been attacked at this mall. I am starting to notice a trend here.

The villain immediately takes out a bazooka of all things, and says:

"Surrender now if you don't want to die! I am part of the Order of Villains."

'The Order of Villains? That sounds too similar to something I already know…" I think to myself, remembering a certain general.

The police finally arrives on the scene, and tells the villain to surrender or face arrest. Of course, the villain isn't scared at all, and he faces the police.

"I have hostages, so you're gonna shut the hell up!" He says, as if he's planned for everything. "The Order won't be taken down by stupid policemen!"

While the villain is focused on the police, I start to think of a plan.

"Hey!" I whisper carefully, to make sure the villain doesn't hear us, "Can you distract the villain, while I wave change with Edward?"

"Aojikan, you don't need to EM wave change, right?" Kate asks, a bit confused. "You've got a quirk that probably allows you to take him down easily."

"That is true," I answer, "However, there are two problems: Firstly, I don't want the police to arrest me for an illegal use of quirk. Secondly, we have no idea how powerful this villain is, and it might be too much to handle with just my quirk."

"Ok, now I understand." She says.

I put myself under the table, and I do the most silent EM wave change I have ever done. Meanwhile, Kate and the others distract the villain.

"Mister villain, I really need to pee…" Kate says, in her usual tongue and cheek voice.

"I want to go to the toilet too." Izuku says in a pleading voice.

"Mister villain, can you go ask the chef if they've got more of these mochi? They're really delicious…" Ochaco says, as if the villain wasn't scary at all.

"Shut up, you brainless kids!" He says, clearly losing his temper, "I have a flippin' bazooka, and I have shown I'm ready to use it, and yet you keep asking these questions! I do not care if you want to go to the toilet, or if you want to eat more of these disgusting mochis, I only care about the goal of the Order!"

I decide to appear at this moment, because he might start to fire some rockets. When he sees me, he indeed fires a rocket, which I smash with lightning induced punches. The villain is floored, but instead of being scared, he says:

"Oh? Are you the person that the general was talking about?" He says, not surprised by the fact I smashed his rocket, or by my Metroid appearance, "Then, I will get rid of this toy, and fight you with my crushing quirk, Blue water!" As he yells this, columns of water appear around him and he fires them at me.

"Good grief… You think this can stop me?" I say as I punch the water away, "I've beaten hundreds of Order minions, and yet you still think you have a chance to defeat me?"

"I am not like the others! I will be the one to defeat you!" He says, probably thinking that he is original or something.

"How many times have I heard that?" I say, shaking my head, "Let's teach you humility. **Lightning Rehash!**"

As I say this, I fire electricity in cross pattern, that goes around his columns. For a moment, he believes I missed, but the lightning boomerangs come back, and they electrify him. I notice that the police starts to look at me suspiciously, so I change frequencies to not be seen. I search in the villain coat to find anything of interest, but unfortunately, the general was careful enough not to put any clues on his minions. Oh well.

I came back to the mall afterwards, but in the end we decided that was enough for one day, and we went back home. Not before Kate kissed me of course, in front of Izuku and Ochaco. She's going to kill me eventually, that's for sure.

* * *

"Aojikan, you sure you got everything?" Mom asked.

"Well I'm on my fifth check now, so I think everything is in my bag." I said.

"Well, have a good day!" She replied.

"See you!" I said.

I was my first day at UA, and after making absolutely sure I had everything, I left home. When I was in front of the UA gates, I couldn't help but be amazed again. I finally got in, but not before meeting Kate. She told me she was in 1-A, as I am, so that's good news already.

We walked to our classroom, which had an All Might-sized door – I found that funny. I met this guy called Tenya Iida, the person who complained about the 0-point robot in the exam. Our homeroom teacher chose that moment to arrive, and he quickly introduced himself as Shota Aizawa, aka Eraser Head. He immediately asked us to put the PE uniforms for a 'Quirk assessment test', as he calls it.

Once we were all changed, he spoke up again.

"As you know, you have been taking physical fitness tests where you were not allowed to use your quirk." He explains, bored, "This is simply irrational, especially since we are training you to be heroes. Aojikan, you scored first in the practical exam, right? What was your best throw at softball throw?"

"75 metres." I said.

"Well, know try to throw the ball using your quirk." Aizawa said, not conscious of the beast he had awoken.

"OK." I said, taking the ball and putting myself into position.

"You can do anything as long as you stay in the circle." He explained.

"Question: Are there any cameras?" I asked, thinking of plans with and without."

"To measure how far the ball went, yes, but not here." Aizawa answered, a quizzical look on his face.

"Thank you. This is all I needed to know." I said, readying my quirk.

"Get going then." He said, without emotions.

I was already storing my quirk in a seal to use it all at once. Then, when I was ready, I threw the ball and the moment right after, I used my quirk. I then proceeded to do a flurry of sun flame induced punches and kicks. When I thought the ball was moving fast enough, I resumed the normal pace of time.

A huge explosion was heard, and I smirked, because the ball had broken the sound wall. I could see the ball flying away, and I knew it wasn't coming back. AIzawa showed his screen, and it said 10000 metres. I believe it was not designed for such speeds. Everyone looked at me, as if I were divine. Except Bakugou, who looked like he wanted to kill me.

He was next up, and he scored 705.2 metres. He didn't stop eying me when he got back. Izuku was next up, and using One for All and sun flames, he managed to score 707.1 metres. Bakugou was probably gonna kill us both now.

Ochaco was next, and by using her quirk on the ball, it just flew up. The display just showed infinity metres, and I said it was incorrect, because infinity isn't a number. Everyone looked at me as if they were saying _'Seriously?'_

After everyone had threw their ball – including a girl who created a _cannon _to fire the ball -, we moved on to the 50-metre race. Of course I scored first, literally walking to the end of the track while using my quirk. Aizawa had wide eyes yet again, and basically everyone else too. The display said 0.1 second, so I was a bit disappointed I wasn't fast enough to make it say 0 seconds.

The next tests were not as interesting, but I will note that Izuku managed to beat his previous record in terms of weight-lifting. Even considering the fact that he has One for All, he has been getting better at using dying will flames.

In the end, I managed to be first in terms of results, with a guy named Todoroki in second place. His quirk is half-hot, half-cold. As in, this is the name of his quirk, which allows him to manipulate ice and supposedly fire. He's the son of the number two hero, Endeavour.

In third place, there is Izuku, and in fourth place, grumpy as ever, we find Bakugou. We've given around three reasons to kill us already, so I'm surprised he hasn't tried to do anything yet.

Aizawa told us we were dismissed, so after changing back into the school uniforms, I met up with Ochaco, Izuku and Kate to go back home. Iida bumped into us, saying he wanted to come back with us. We talked for a while, and then we had to split ways.

In the afternoon, I sent the design for my hero costume. We were required to use costumes in the physical exercises in UA. I had designed it from top to bottom, to make sure my quirk's drawbacks could be negated. The costume was a simple tuxedo, that was made with fibres designed to resist dying will flames.

In one of the pockets, there was a clock that allowed me to know how much I was slowing or accelerating time. In another pocket, there was a box that contained dying will pills and warrior pills, with a healthy dose of paracetamol – had to get rid of those headaches somehow. Finally, the costume also contained a few knives, that were engraved with magic symbols. These magic symbols made anyone who was cut by the knives a victim of my quirk, without headaches for me.

The next day, All Might did our first lesson with us, so we could finally test the costumes that we had designed. When I saw everyone's costumes, well, I must say it fitted them pretty well. Izuku's costume was blatant rip-off of All Might's look, so our teacher had difficulties containing his laughter.

"Now, it's time for battle training."

"Sir!" Iida said, and I only recognised him because of his voice – must say his costume is pretty cool, "This is a battle centre from the exam, so will we be conducting urban battles again?"

"No, this will be more difficult." All Might started to explain, "Most of the fights against villains take place outside. However, in this hero-filled society, the most intelligent villains hide in the shadows. As such, you will be split in hero and villain teams and you will fight 2 on 2 indoor battles."

At this point, everyone asked questions, and All Might was a bit overwhelmed. Of course, I asked:

"Is this a JoJo reference?" Unfortunately, nobody answered this question. All Might spoke up again.

"The scenario is the following: the villains have hidden a nuclear weapon in their hideout. The heroes need to dispose of it. The heroes must either catch the villains with these handcuffs, or recover the weapon. The villains must either protect the weapon for the whole time, or catch the heroes.

"The teams and the matchups will be determined by drawing lots. Now that this is clear, let's start!"

The lots had been drawn, and I ended up with the girl called Yaoyorozu, the one who previously used a cannon to fire the softball in the physical test. Ibara ended up with a guy named Rikido Sato. If I remember correctly, if he ingested sugar, he could turn into a super-muscular guy.

Izuku and Ochaco were together, and they fought in the first match against Bakugou and Iida. All Might told Bakugou and Iida to think in the mind set of villains, and they entered the building. Izuku and Ochaco went in the back of the building to think of a plan, while the rest of the class went into a room to watch the battle play on screens.

All Might signalled when the preparation time for the heroes was over, and the exercise started. Izuku and Ochaco ran into the building, while trying to be silent. Meanwhile, Iida and Bakugou had a disagreement, and Bakugou went to welcome Izuku and Ochaco.

Eventually, the three of them crossed paths, and Bakuogou started with one of his famous explosions. The screen was obscured by smoke, and it was unclear what had happened.

That was until Izuku used One for All, 8% and cleared the smoke with a kick. The kick didn't connect to Bakugou, but it did push him back. That gave Ochaco time to touch him and use her quirk on him. As such, Bakugou started to float in the air, and Izuku easily managed to handcuff him in the surprise.

"Deku, you bastard!" Bakugou yelled, not happy to have been taken down so easily.

Izuku and Ochaco ignored him as they climbed up the stairs. Eventually, they found Iida next to the bomb, in a room without objects lying around. Iida spoke up in his best villain voice.

"Hello, heroes! I believe that you have defeated my friend, however! I made sure there are no objects lying around, so one of you has been rendered useless! As for you, Midoriya, I will make sure you cannot take this weapon. Prepare yourself, heroes!"

Iida started to run in circles around the bomb to protect it. Izuku put himself behind Ochaco, and he grabbed her. She then used her quirk on herself, and Izuku yelled:

"Special technique: **Cannon ball throw!**"

Izuku threw her at the right moment, and Ochaco was able to recover the weapon. Iida was very disappointed, as he had thought his plan was full-proof, but then again it's hard running faster than a weightless person being thrown by a One for All user.

The next match was my team against Ibara and Sato. We were on the hero side, so we went behind the building to think of some plans.

"So, what is your quirk?" Momo asked me.

"Time manipulation, I can accelerate or slow down time in a radius of about 3 metres around me," I explained, "If I can look someone in the eyes I can use my quirk on them for a small amount of time. What about yours?"

"My quirk is Creation, I can create anything as long as I now its chemical composition." She explained, "I use the fats in my body to create things. If I use too much, it becomes dangerous."

"Ok, I think I've got an idea," I said, having a good idea of the plan, "Could you make a…"

* * *

Ibara and Rikido had prepared a pretty good plan. They had decided protecting the weapon was a bad idea considering Aojikan's quirk, so they decided to catch them instead. Their plan was quite simple: Rikido would hide somewhere that Momo and Aojikan had to go through, and he would attack them upfront.

While they were distracted, Ibara would trap them in her hair vines by putting them through the floor. When Aojikan and Momo entered, everything happened according to plan. Ibara was able to catch them with her vine hair thanks to Rikido's distraction.

"Well, well, Aojikan, looks like I've caught you with my plan." She said, as she moved in closer to them to put on the handcuffs, "No comments? That's surprising, usually you would be bickering about how that's not fair."

"Oh, this is perfectly fair." He said, smiling, "My plan will work, no problems."

"Really? I think you're being too optimistic, you know, considering I have caught you." She said, smiling herself.

"That's part of the plan." He said, "It's only a matter of seconds now."

"Have you gone crazy?" She asked, looking a bit concerned, "We've won!"

"Incorrect." He said, "You're in a winning position. That doesn't mean you have won."

As Aojikan said this, the screens started to bug, and nobody in the class knew what was happening.

* * *

**A.N.: **Well, that was an extra-long chapter! I hoped you liked it. I ended up on a cliff-hanger, because I believe the chapter would have been too long if I had continued. Small note: I have changed the composition of the 1-A class, so Ibara/Kate exchanges with Koda, and Aojikan replaces Mineta. I think this is all I had to explain, but if something is unclear, feel free to PM me! Have a nice week, and see you next time for a new chapter of _The quirky adventures!_

_"Fink-rats!"_


	7. Why am I a class representative?

**Chapter 7: ****Why am I a class representative?**

The sound was still on however, so the class heard a cannon being shot, and when the cameras went back on, they saw Ibara and Rikido in a net. Aojikan and Momo were handcuffing them, and Aojikan explained what had happened to Ibara:

"Now, you must be wondering how I even caught you with the net, right? It's simple really: as soon as you touched me, I activated my quirk, which activated the cannon over here. This cannon was not included in my quirk, and because of this, you were trapped before you had a chance to react."

"But… How did you transport it?" She asked, intrigued.

"Oh, that's simple really." He answered, smiling, "Momo can use very interesting materials for what she creates, including very lightweight ones. In fact, she's the one who suggested that we use those materials. Couldn't have done it without her."

"You're exaggerating… I did nothing compared to everything you did..." Momo said.

"What? Of course not..."

"Excuse-me!" All Might interrupted, "I would like to say that the hero side wins, and that every participant should come back to this room."

"Oh right," Aojikan said, "Let me uncuff you."

"Thanks!" Ibara said, beaming at Aojikan.

"Thank you." Rikido said.

Once the handcuffs were taken off, they walked out of the exam grounds, and towards the building.

* * *

We went to see Recovery girl so that she could heal potential injuries. Of course, considering the rapid take down, there wasn't anything that needed to be healed. My costume, however, had been cut in many places thanks to Kate's quirk. Thankfully, I had made it using fibres that reacted to sun flames, so I could repair it easily.

We went back to the room with the big screen, and Izuku, Iida and Ochaco all asked if we were okay. I told them that thanks to my brilliant plan, no injuries had been sustained. As I said that, Kate made a pouty face, probably thinking her plan was also great.

Of the remaining matches, only one of them was interesting enough to detail. Not to say the other matches were boring or anything, but they weren't as captivating.

Actually, scratch that, captivating is not what I would use to describe Shoto Todoroki's match. When a match lasts less than a second, it's hard to feel captivated really. His teammate and him entered the building, and he just covered the whole building with ice, incapacitating the other team. The correct adjective to describe it would probably be… scary.

Thank goodness, this ended the exercise for him before he could do anything else. After all the other matches had taken place, All Might spoke up again:

"Young heroes, I believe this exercise was quite constructive. Now, some matches might have been very short," As he said this, he glared at Todoroki and surprisingly, me, "However, I'm sure you all learned something from this. Do not worry if you lost today. Over the course of your scholarship, you will get gradually better, and one day you will be able to fight villains. Learn from your failures, and you will be able to progress. And, of course, don't forget to always go for Plus Ultra!"

"Yes sir!" Everyone said together.

We were dismissed, and we changed back into our regular uniforms. I met up again with Iida, Izuku, Ochaco and Kate, and we all went back to home together. When I got out of the train, Kate was the only one remaining with me. I had decided to come to her house, so I had to say goodbye to Izuku and the others.

When I entered her house, after saying hello to her mom – who looked very similar to her –, she led me directly to her room. It looked very cosy, with plants everywhere. It was very nice looking, and I could see all her gardening tools.

"Please don't pay attention to the mess…" She said, blushing a little, "It's hard to keep it under control. I'm always cutting my plants, or trying to plant new ones, or watering them…"

"Well, seems like you enjoy gardening as much as I enjoy tinkering computers…" I said, remembering the sorry state of my own room, "It's a good thing you didn't see my room: I have computer pieces and boxes everywhere. A bit like you I guess. By the way, you didn't use to love plants so much, did you?"

"Not that much, but I never hated gardening…" She answered, "When your family loves gardening so much, and when you have to do it to take care of your hair, you kind of get used to it."

"I see… Well, it's a really nice room." I said, as she hugged me.

"Thank you!" She said, "It takes a lot of time to take care of it, so I'm happy when people like it."

"Now that I think about it, aren't you the one who takes care of the gardening at school?" I asked.

"Yup!" She answered, "I can't believe that I'm allowed to take care of them. Their garden is beautiful!"

"That's true. It is quite beautiful." I said, "Um… Could we cuddle?"

"Yes we can, you goof!" Kate said, smiling, "You're so cute when you stammer…"

"W-What do you..." I tried to say, but she shut me up with a kiss.

She led me to the bed, and we cuddled until her mom brought a cup of tea. I must say, it was one of the best cup of tea I had ever tasted since I got to this timeline. It was _delicious_. I asked Kate how they made it, and she showed one of the plants. Of course, it was home-made!

When I left, I told her mom that the tea was delicious. She told me to wait, and she came back with a bag full of tea leaves. She told me I could take all of them, because they wouldn't be able to finish it before it wasn't edible any more.

When I came back home, mom asked me if I she could finally stop buying tea.

"Yes, this one is better than any of the others." I answered.

"Will you share?" She asked, smiling.

"Of course you can." I answered, "We can use the same leaf for two cups."

The next day, after having proper tea for breakfast, I went to school, very happy. Before I could get in however, a sea of journalists blocked the way. The news that All Might was a teacher at the school might have gotten out, because the journalists kept asking:

"What does it feel to have the symbol of peace as a teacher?"

I thought that they were being pretty annoying, so I slowed down time, and I methodically tried to push them all back. Once I was satisfied – and once I had a proper headache –, I got in the school, and put back time to normal. While the journalists were surprised, most UA students managed to get through, including a surprised Izuku.

He thanked for the help, and I watched as gates closed on the journalists. Once I finally got in the school, I saw Kate was already taking care of the plants. I approached her, and surprisingly she spoke up:

"Aojikan, you can't take me by surprise." She said, turning to look at me in the eyes, "You should know that already, since, you know, you're the one who told us to always be attentive?"

"You don't disappoint, Ibara." I said, smiling, "What do you say we get in class before Mr. Aizawa tries to kill us for being late?"

"Great suggestion!" She answered as she took of her gloves and put them back in a box.

We went to the class, and it didn't take long for Aizawa to appear. He looked like he was in bad mood – it's kind of hard to tell, but you could tell it was worse than usual. He muttered something about bloody journalists, and he told us that he had seen the exercise of the last day on video. He then looked at me, and said:

"About you, Aojikan, I would like to remind you that you should stop explaining all of your plans. If a villain pretends that they have been caught by your plan, but you keep explaining it, they will attack you as soon as the possibility appears."

"Sir, if I may, I did wait until after I had handcuffed Ibara to explain the plan." I said.

"Just remember that it might be dangerous." He said, "Now, let's get to home room business. Today I'll have you decide on a class representative."

As he said this, the class erupted into chaos. Now, this surprised me a little, since last time I had to elect class representatives in my timeline, almost nobody presented themselves. However, in a school like UA, being class representative basically meant being considered top hero, so everyone wanted to be it. The chaos continued until Iida spoke up:

"Silence please!" As he said this, everyone calmed down, "This is a job with the serious responsibility of leading others. We can't do it just because we want to, we need to decide people who are able to do it. This is why I propose that we hold an election, like in a true democracy!"

"But, we've only known each other for a short period of time, so everyone will vote for themselves, right?" A girl called… Tsuyu asked, and I realised that she was absolutely right.

"Well, if someone receives multiple votes, then it gives them even more legitimacy!" Iida answered, "Mr. Aizawa, can we conduct the election?"

"As long as it's done by the end of home room, I'm fine with it." He said as he entered into his sleeping bag.

When everyone had voted, the votes were counted and the results were written on the board. Surprisingly, I ended up first with 4 votes, and Yaoyorozu had 2. I had voted for her, since I thought she was pretty capable in the practical exam. I looked at the classroom, and I quickly identified who had voted for me: Ibara, obviously, Izuku, Ochaco and Iida.

Iida looked like he really wanted to be class rep, but for the moment I didn't know if it was a good idea to give the position to him.

"Then, Aojikan will be class representative, and Momo will be deputy class representative." Aizawa said, "Home room is dismissed, I guess."

After a painful English lesson – Present Mic has a terrible accent –, Ibara, Izuku, Ochaco, Iida and I went to eat at the cafeteria. Apparently, every student in UA went to eat here, so it was quite full. The chef was the pro hero Lunch Rush, and Izuku told us nobody knew what his quirk was.

We found a table and we started to eat – it was _delicious. _I asked Iida if it was fine that he didn't get to be class rep. He said that he didn't mind, because he thought I was more qualified.

"So you did vote for me… Small question: Did everyone around this table also vote for me?" I asked.

"Yes, I think we all voted for you..." Kate said, looking concerned, "But you would have got five votes… I don't understand."

"I voted for Momo," I admitted, "From what I could gather from yesterday's exam, she looked like the most suitable for the job."

"Was I not good enough?" Kate asked, faking anger.

"Of course not, it's just that I don't feel you have the ability to lead people." I answered, "I mean, you could do it, but I think Momo could do it a bit better."

"You're even better suited than I thought…" Iida said, amazed, "You didn't vote merely based on your preferences, but based on the aptitudes of the class."

"You said 'merely"! Are you a rich boy, Iida?" Ochaco suddenly and bluntly said.

"Ah… Yes, in a way I am..." Iida answered, "Have you heard of the professional hero, Ingenium?"

"Of course, I believe he has an agency in Tokyo." I said.

"Well, he is my elder brother!" Iida said, "I am part of a family that have been heroes for generations, and I want to enter in this legacy!"

"That's super cool, Iida!" Kate said.

She was about to say something else, but an alarm rang and a voice said that there had been a level 3 security breach. The voice then said that the students should evacuate outdoors promptly. As the voice said this, chaos erupted in the cafeteria as everyone tried to escape through the corridors. We were in the corridors too, and we were pushed back and forth by the crowd. As I was pushed, I got a look in the window, and realised it was only journalists who were trespassing.

I went back in the crowd to search for my friends, and I quickly told them it was only the media. We quickly formed a plan, and we put into action immediately. Ochaco touched me so I didn't have any weight, and Izuku sent Iida into the air. I slowed down time, and Iida pushed me with his engines. When time resumed, I was pushed towards the exit of the corridor.

"Everything's fine!" I yelled as the crowd looked toward me, "Do not panic, it's just the media! There's nothing to worry about, so let's act in a way that fits the best of the best!"

The crowd finally calmed down, and Ochaco released her quirk when I had fallen back onto the ground. When everything finally settled, we went back to our classroom for the afternoon lessons.

"Now, let us decide on other class officers." I said when I was in front of the class.

Once that was done, Aizawa told us we were moving on to the practical exercise. After changing into our uniforms, I made everyone get into the bus in an optimal way. I talked with Ibara during the ride, and then the bus stopped. Once more I made sure that the class got out of the bus in an optimal way.

We met the pro hero Thirteen, who was apparently going to be our teacher for this lesson.

"Let's go inside without delay!" He – or is it she? – said, as we entered the building. "This is a training ground I have made different types of accident and disasters. I have called it the "Unforeseen Simulation Joint", or USJ for short!"

"By the way Thirteen, where is All Might?" Aizawa asked.

"He is getting here," Thirteen answered, "Ever since his limit has increased, he has tried to save everyone he can..." The last part was whispered.

"This is the height of irrationality." Aizawa said, shaking his head, "Shall we start then?"

"Yes, but I have something to tell you first." Thirteen said, "I'm sure you're all aware of my quirk, Black Hole. I can suck up everything and turn into dust. However, it is a power that can easily kill someone. I'm sure some of you have quirks like this. This class will allow you to discover how you can use your quirk without harming people."

"Now that this is out of the way, we can finally start-" Aizawa started to say, but the lights turned off.

At the same time, the fountain in the central plaza turned on and off, until a black mist appeared. People who I assumed to be villains came out of it, and Aizawa told us to gather together and not to move. He told Thirteen it protect us, and put on his visor.

I saw one of the villains looked more like a monster than a human, you could see his brains and he had black skin. Finally, one of the villains threw a disk on the floor, which made a hologram appear. I saw a certain logo that I had hoped not to see again…

"Greetings and salutations from the Order of Villains!" An all-too familiar voice said, "We are here to kill the symbol of peace. Well, I say 'we' but I'm not here. The reason why I recorded this message is for the young Wadokei Aojikan. I hope you had a terrible life in this timeline, my friend, but I'm afraid it has to end by my hand. The sooner, the better, but not by the hands of these villains. No, I want to personally torture, then kill you.

"I hope you like my welcome committee, and see you soon. Yours truly, general Legrand." The recording ended, and I was furious.

I was going to punch his "welcome" committee until there was none left, and then I would find him. I told Edward to prepare the ten years bazooka spell, and I jumped in the fray.

* * *

**A.N.: **A severe beat down can be expected in the next chapter… I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you next time for a new chapter of _The quirky adventures!_

_"I HAVE VICTORY! Easy as bread sandwiches!"_


	8. The gentleman from the future

**Chapter 8: ****The gentleman from the future**

Before I was able to get to the central plaza, the mist villain that had teleported the others here appeared before us.

"Hello, class 1-A! I believe that All Might should be teaching you, right?" He asked, "Well, it doesn't matter if he isn't there yet. We'll make sure he has to come out."

"And I'll make sure he doesn't have to come out." I said, making a sign to Kate as I slowed down time.

Vines flew in the air, trapping a metal part of the villain that seemed to be his weak point. When time resumed, it looked like I was correct as mister mist was gasping for air.

"I wonder how you'll make him come out if you're trapped in these vines." I said, smirking.

However, Bakugou decided now was the best time to jump on the villain and try to attack him with his explosions. Needless to say, this backfired almost instantly as Bakugou's explosion scared Kate enough that she let go of him. As such, mist guy was able to teleport himself away, and tried to teleport us all away.

I slowed down time as quickly as I could, and since I only had enough time to save one person, I moved Iida out of the range of the villain. When time resumed, everybody was teleported away, but the villain was still there.

13 and Aizawa had also been teleported away, which meant that it was only me, Iida, and a small group of students that weren't in the range of the villain.

"You're really annoying, you know?" I said, starting to get even angrier.

"Well, I can't let any of you escape, can I?" He asked, "You would call your teachers and we are not ready for this."

"Good grief. Iida, on my signal, you run as quickly as you can, okay?" I asked, preparing my quirk.

"No, no, you don't understand!" The villain said as he started to us his quirk.

I jumped on the occasion – quite literally – while using my quirk, and I gave him a good load of punches and kicks. I resumed the normal flow of time, and signalled Iida to get out.

The villain, noticing I wasn't concentrated, teleported me into the central plaza. However, he did not notice that was what I had wanted from the beginning.

After punching a few villains who were in the way, I thought I was secure enough to use my secret technique. I asked Edward if we were ready, and he told me if I was stupid enough to do it, we were.

"Edward, you know it's the only possibility." I said, trying to convince him, "Besides, if we never try it, we won't know it's actual cost, will we?"

"This is very idiot, and you will regret it later, but you are my host and master after all." He said, readying the spell.

"**Time manipulation: Ten years later!**" I yelled, as I activated the technique.

* * *

A massive explosion was heard in the USJ, as the students turned their heads to see a massive cloud of white smoke. Izuku, Bakugou and Todoroki arrived at this moment, and they hid themselves in fear of retaliation.

In an instant, the smoke cleared and a young man in a suit could be seen, with a cup of tea in his hand. This man, initially surprised, made a red suit appear and it took the cup of tea.

"Interesting… I don't remember being here ten years ago, so it must have been me from another time line..." He thought aloud, while Aizawa looked like he wanted to take paracetamol. "Edward, why did my younger self call me for?"

"We would like to eliminate all of these villains, sir." The metroid said, sighing.

"You look like you didn't agree to this." The man said, smiling, "Well, I can understand why, his body seems like its in a lot of pain. Can't feel it directly though, so I'll do my best not to break it in half. Let's get started! **EM wave change: Paul Johnson, On the air!**"

A red blocky mechanical artefact appeared, the same colour as the suit previously. With it, a red aura started to spin around the man, faster and faster until it fused with him. After a flash of white light, the man appeared wearing a red top hat and trench coat. But was it really the same man? Izuku couldn't tell.

The problem was that this person was wearing a mask, so it was hard to identify who he was. Even harder was to determine what was his link to Aojikan. The latter had completely disappeared, so was he hiding, or had he somehow transformed into this man? There was also the fact he called himself Paul, the 'real' name of Aojikan…

However, before Izuku's thought train could go any further, 'Paul' realised that a few villains had taken advantage of his transformation's length to try to attack him. Of course, this back fired as he yelled "**Thunder Shockwave!**" and huge sparks of electricity flew around him in a sphere.

None of the villains that had tried to attack him escaped this attack, and he attacked the other villains as they were startled. Izuku heard the name "**Lightning fang!**" being said before 'Paul' created blue lightning blades attached to his arms.

After only a few minutes, every minion was on the ground either unconscious or gasping for air. The villain who seemed to be their leader was absolutely astonished, and he started to scratch his neck nervously.

"Noumu, even if this guy isn't All Might, I want you to kill him!" As he said this, the villain that had black skin and his brains out jumped to attack 'Paul'.

"Good grief… This body is already at its limit, and you want me to push it even further? Well, you don't leave me much of a choice…" He spread his arms and left himself vulnerable.

Noumu crushed 'Paul' with all his weight, the latter's body being split in half. At least, that was before the body disappeared into a cloud of white smoke.

'Paul' reappeared, and this time Noumu hit him with a powerful right hook. Once again, the former's body disappeared into white smoke after breaking into multiple parts. Once more, he reappeared, and after a spinning kick from Noumu, disappeared into white smoke.

"Good, good, now I only need to know one more thing." He said as he reappeared a fourth time behind the brainless villain. "**Lightning fang!**"

A lightning blade materialized out of his arm, and he cut Noumu in half. The creature, not at all surprised, regenerated the gap between his torso and his hips.

"Great! Now I have everything that I need. It's show time!" He said as he shifted into a fighting stand, with his index and middle fingers together. "I don't think I'll have a lot of time after using this, but it's the only way to get rid of you! **Secret technique: Hyuuga clan replica!**" As he yelled this, blue flames appeared around his two fingers, and he slammed them into the body.

"2 palms! 4 palms! 8 palms! 16 palms!" As he yelled this, he hit the monster more and more, each time yelling the appropriate number of fingers. "128 palms!" At this point,his fingers were moving too fast to be seen.

The creature, as it was being hit, was slowly flying into the air. A clone of 'Paul' appeared behind the creature as he yelled "256 palms!". The fingers continued to go faster and faster, until 'Paul' made two clones appear under and above the creature. He finally yelled "2048 palms!" after using all 4 clones, and the creature didn't move any more.

"Okay, let's finish this." He said, panting, "**Maximum sunshine cannon!**"

As he yelled this, he gave an almighty uppercut to the creature that went flying through the glass windows of the USJ. He jumped back on the floor, relief on his face.

He slowly walked over to the villain who was scratching his face even faster than before.

"W-Who are you?!" He asked.

"I have many nicknames and pseudonyms, but you can call me Agent E." The 'agent' answered, panting even more than before, "What's your name though? My past self would probably need to know that."

"Don't tell him, Shigaraki…" The mist villain stopped when he realised his error.

"Kurogiri..." Shigaraki whispered.

"Thank you, Kurogiri. You might have stopped your sentence before saying his first name, but I was still able to determine the rest of your sentence. Shigaraki Tomura…" He wondered aloud, "YOu seem like someone that I can't trust... I'll seal you, should be enough to stop you. **Sealing technique: Hyuuga replica!**"

Agent E went back into his previous position hit the villain with his fingers yet again, stopping at 64 palms. As he stopped, All Might and the rest of the pro heroes arrived on the scene.

In an instant, the aura around the agent disappeared, and a huge cloud of smoke covered the area around him. Everyone was startled, and Kurogiri took advantage of this to make a quick escape with Shigaraki.

When the smoke cleared, the villains were nowhere to be seen, and only an unconscious Aojikan was left. He started to scream in pain as clone images appeared around him.

"Aojikan!" Izuku, Ochaco and Ibara yelled in unison as they ran towards him, Iida following them.

"Young Wadokei!" All Might said, jumping to where he was.

As the rest of the class started to gather around him, Recovery girl and the other pro heroes told the class to move away from him. He was put on a stretcher, and carried to the infirmary.

* * *

_Dark, Darker, yet darker... _

I woke up in a void, seemingly disconnected from everything.

_The shadows cutting deeper..._

I could see the general, but yet he looked different. When I talked to him, he was actually very nice.

_Photons reading negative..._

He disappeared, and now I could see... me?

_This next experiment seems..._

But he was older than me, and he also had the module E with him.

_Very, Very..._

Other people started appearing, and I could tell that they were me from other timelines.

_INTERESTING._

I turned around, to see a monster who looked like Gaster.

_What do you two think?_

He grabbed me into his hands, and I split into multiple clones of myself. I started to lose consciousness, and my head hurt like I had banged against the wall.

_BEWARE OF THE MAN WHO SPEAKS IN HANDS._

* * *

When I woke up, I could barely remember what had happened after I had used the spell. I also had a proper headache, but I couldn't remember where it came from. I looked around me, and realised where I was.

'The infirmary, huh?' I thought, 'Guess that's what I get for pushing myself too far.'

"Aojikan? You're up? Aojikan!" Kate said as she hugged me. "I was so scared… why did you have to do this?"

"Sorry, it was the only way I had to defeat them. And… I needed to test this ability to know if we could get out of here." I answered, feeling very stupid.

"You're really an idiot, you know?" She said, pouting, "You could have gotten out of this without doing your heroic thing… I was scared I wasn't going to see you afterwards..."

"Kate… I'm sorry that I made you worried…" I said as I hugged her. "Ouch… My head… It feels like it's splitting in half!"

"Paul! Are you alright?" She asked, worry on her face.

"I'm fine. It kind of feels like I've been like this before… Must be after the spell cooled down. " I said, trying to remember what had happened. "This might be a time illness."

"A time illness?" She asked.

"Yes, a time illness. It's a specific sickness that most time travellers experience." I explained, "However, it generally happens after years of time travelling to many different timelines..."

As I said this, All Might, Izuku and Recovery girl came into the room. She scolded me for being reckless, and muttered that Yagi's stupidity was transmitting.

"Do you have a blank sheet of paper?" I asked, still thinking about the illness.

"Yes, I do." She answered, very surprised. "If I may ask, why do you want a sheet of paper?"

"I'm gonna identify what's giving this massive headache, and then I'll find a way to get rid of it." I explained, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"If you say so…" She said as she gave me the sheet.

After thanking her, I concentrated on the paper. Using my lightning flames, I made inscriptions run through it until a certain pattern appeared. Once I had verified this was my magic signature, I looked at it more carefully to spot signs of illnesses.

"No, that's normal… Not this either… Ah! This pattern… no doubt about it, that's what's wrong." I said, reading the signature and pointing at the wrong pattern.

"What type is it?" Kate asked, suddenly very worried.

"Time illness, terminal condition: Distemporality."

* * *

**A.N.: **I'm certain you had not thought about this! Our main hero is now sick… What can he do to fix it? Tune in next week to know the answer!

_"Your leader is mine for the taking away! I will work him until his bones become dust and the dust has grown mold!"_


	9. A small training break

**Chapter 9: ****A small training break**

"Distemporality? I've never heard of this before…" Recovery Girl said, doubt in her eyes.

"Of course you haven't, it's a time sickness in a world where time travel doesn't exist!" I explained, "Which means that there are no cures in this timeline. However, using techniques from my own timeline, I could get out of this predicament."

"Will sun flames be enough?" Izuku asked curiously.

"No, we're gonna need something more powerful." I answered, thinking about what could stop the distemporality. "Unfortunately, there will be no way to perfectly cure it. However, there is a way to attenuate its symptoms. A seal of some sort, though I'm not sure what kind of seal…"

"We can search together, Paul." Kate said, smiling. "Since we're off anyway, we have more time."

"Oh, really? That's a great idea." I said, very happy to finally have a day off or two.

"You won't have just a day off, Wadokei." Recovery Girl said strictly. "Until you're completely healed, I don't want you to train with anyone. You still haven't completely recovered."

"OK, I understand. I won't do anything." I said, a bit disappointed. "Can I go back home, or do you need me for more tests?"

"No, you are free to go home." She said, "But you have to take paracetamol every 2 hours. If you don't, I'm sure you'll faint and you'll be back here in no time. Have I been clear?"

"Yes, Recovery Girl."

"Good, you are dismissed."

Once we were out, All Might asked me how we should proceed for the training, as we had continued even after the UA entrance exam.

"Have I told you that I wanted to have Ochaco and Iida train with us too?" I asked.

"Yes, I believe you have told me, young Wadokei. However, I must wonder how we'll keep training if you can't help us out."

"Kate is in charge until I recover completely." I said as she nodded, "She's more than qualified to train you in dying will flames. I mean, considering the fact that she helped me quite a lot with them, there's no reason she can't help you out either."

"I see… Is there anyone else that will join our training?" All Might asked.

"I haven't thought about it for the moment… If it had to be anybody, I would say Momo and perhaps Todoroki have my interest." I answered. "But they won't be joining us until we get Iida and Ochaco up to speed."

"This matter is settled then. I will see you tomorrow morning. Have a good recovery, young Wadokei!"

"Thanks All Might!" I said as we went on our separate ways.

Izuku, Kate and I decided to go to the mall, and we invited Iida and Ochaco to come as well. We asked them if they wanted to train with us, and they said that they weren't against the idea.

The next morning, we were all near Dagoba beach, and I greeted everyone.

"Hi everyone! How are you doing?" I asked, smiling.

"I'm great!" Ochaco said, punching the air.

"I'm pretty good myself." Iida said.

"Good! Now, before we start training, there's something I must tell you Iida." I said, but then Kate looked at me like she wanted to say something. "That is, unless Ibara wants to say it?"

She nodded and started to explain to Iida where we came from, what were our names, why we ended up here, and what abilities we brought with us. When she stopped talking, Iida was deep in thought.

"That is a lot to take in… But I believe you. Aojikan and you are people I can trust, so I have no problem believing this. When do we start training then?"

"Well, as Kate said, before you can use dying will flames, we must identify what type you are." I said as I started to smirk. "For this, I have just the right tool. Iida, Ochaco, do you have any regrets?"

"Yes, of course I do!" They both answered simultaneously.

"Good. Then this will work. Edward!" I said as the metroid turned into a gun. "Defeat Kate and Izuku with your dying will!"

I shot both of them with dying will bullets, and they fell to the ground. The bullets had their effect, and they were back up in no time.

On Ochaco's forehead, a calm blue flame burned. Meanwhile, Iida's head was illuminated by a solid green lightning. Both of them tried to attack Izuku and Kate, who were already in their battle positions.

"Isn't there another way of knowing their dying will flame type, young Wadokei?" All Might asked, suddenly appearing.

"There are, but I find them less funny than this." I said, barely containing my smile. "But more seriously, this allows them to know what they're really fighting for. The problem with the other methods is that they aren't as effective to learn the cost of dying will flames."

"But won't they cause a havoc?" All Might asked, looking very concerned.

"No, look over here."

Iida and Ochaco were surprisingly calm about it, especially Ochaco. The reason for this was that rain and lightning flames weren't the most aggressive types of flames. Because of this, dying will mode was a lot easier to maintain for them, and they would learn a lot faster than Izuku ever did.

"Impressive… No wonder you wanted them to train with us." He said.

"Of course, I don't make these kinds of errors." I said, looking at Kate. "You're not the only one who'll be surprised though."

As I said this, Ochaco managed to touch Izuku and Iida followed up with an engine-powered round house kick. Kate was about to protect Izuku, but the green-haired boy used sky flames to trap Iida's leg into stone. He followed up with an uppercut that sent Iida flying back, but he hesitated before hitting Ochaco with a small punch.

"He has sky flames!?" Kate asked, absolutely astonished.

"For goodness' sake, Deku, I already told you that you can't pull back punches in a real battle!" I said, feeling a bit disappointed. "And yes, Kate, he has sky flames."

"That's… a surprise…" She said, still not believing it. "OK, time out!" As she said this, the flames on Iida and Ochaco's foreheads disappeared. "Now that we know what type your flames are, Paul will design specific rings for you, and he'll change your hero costumes accordingly."

"That's correct. You only need to put the ring on, your hero costumes have already been modified for the purpose." I said.

"What? How did you do this?" Ochaco asked, incredibly surprised.

"I AM HERE!" All Might said. "I'm the one who helped young Aojikan to add these in your costumes."

"Mr. All Might?" Iida asked, "Are you part of this too?"

"Yes, Aojikan has healed me before, and he's training to use these flames."

"Dying will flames can heal?" Ochaco asked, very surprised.

"Yes, sun flames can indeed heal. But they could also kill if used improperly." I said more seriously. "This is what I want to tell you before you go any further. As we've seen in the USJ incident, quirks can be very dangerous when used on other human beings. Dying will flames are like that too, and I would like you to think about that.

"I have no doubts you will learn how to control them, and I'm sure you'll make the right choices, but I still wanted to say it before we started this training. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Aojikan!" They both said simultaneously.

"Good. You will continue training with Kate until 8 am, but I must go." I said, as I started leaving "Have a nice training session!"

"Goodbye!" They all said.

When I got back home, after taking my paracetamol, I powered on my computer and started to design the rings. I had already made the plans, now Ionly needed to find a material that was dying will sensitive. After an hour of searching on the internet, I finally found the correct crystals.

I purchased them immediately, because if I got them sooner, I would have more time to work on them before Iida and Ochaco needed them.

When I got back to school, everyone was talking about the USJ incident. I told everyone to calm down, but when they saw me, almost everyone had a question.

"How are you, Aojikan?" Kirishima asked.

"Are you related to this guy in the red costume who appeared out of nowhere?" Mina asked, looking very curious.

"Have you recovered well? I heard you were sick from Ochaco, ribbit." Tsuyu croaked.

"Why were you the one to take the spotlight, you geek?" Bakugou yelled, all politeness and respect gone.

"Why is everyone talking about you even though you were hiding?" Todoroki asked bluntly.

"For goodness sake, calm down! If Aizawa sees this, he's gonna kill us." I said, Aizawa's name instantly calming everyone down.

When I had finished with my duties, Aizawa appeared with small bandages everywhere. When I asked where they came from, he told me that the red gentleman didn't have great aim, so he was lightly electrified. I took note of this immediately for future research.

"Let's begin home room with an announcement." He said with a monotone voice. "As some of you might know, the UA sports festival is approaching."

"The UA sports festival?!"

"Isn't it dangerous to hold it after villains have attacked?" Jirou asked.

"What if they attacked again?" Masahiro added.

"Apparently, they think of this as a way to show that UA remains strong even under pressure." Aizawa said, "Besides, we can't let a small group of villains stop the biggest sport event in the country. As you know, the Olympics are just a former shell of their glory, so the UA sport festival is what replaces them.

"Some pro heroes will be spectating, so you must try your hardest to appear good in front of them. Like this, you can guarantee that you will have some of them want you for an internship. Just remember to make the good decisions. Like, not breaking your body." As he said this, he furiously glared at me and Izuku.

This sports festival would be a great opportunity to make myself known in the hero world, and I was not about to miss it! Just wait for me, UA sports festival!

* * *

**A.N.: **I managed to finish on time! Great, just in time for a new cliffhanger! Well, that one isn't as big as the other. I had a really big project that I had to finish, and the deadline was tomorrow, so this chapter was a bit shorter. Sorry about that. I'll try to make it longer next time, so see you then!

_"But I am having a goal!"_


	10. The bestest sport festival ever

**Chapter 10: ****The bestest sport festival ever**

"If you can get into a pro hero's agency, you'll be able to get more experience and popularity. You only have one chance a year, three chances total. If you understand this, then don't slack off in your preparations!" Aizawa said to conclude his little motivational speech.

"Yes sir!" Everyone in the class answered, and home room was over.

I got out of the classroom to go to the infirmary, as Recovery Girl had requested to see me. When I arrived, I greeted her and closed the door behind me.

"Have you taken your paracetamol as I've told you?" She asked.

"Of course I have. I wouldn't be standing here if I hadn't."

"Good, we can now talk about your previous suggestion for a cure. I know that the sports festival is drawing near, and that you want to be ready for it, but isn't it too soon to put your solution in place? I'm not convinced that you have completely recovered."

"I understand where you are coming from, but as I've already told you, the seal would only accelerate my recovery. And if you really want to be careful, then Kate could do it so there's no risk I make my own sickness worse."

"If that's the case, I guess we could do this after the morning lessons." She said, but I could feel she still had her doubts about it. "You can tell her to come once you're finished eating. Actually, take this note, will you?" She wrote a note on a green paper. "You'll be able to eat first with this paper, so she isn't late to the afternoon lessons."

"Okay, I'll tell her. Thanks again, Recovery Girl!" I said as I headed back towards the classroom.

After a pretty painful English lesson, Ochaco opened the door to get out. When she didn't move, I went over to her and saw a humongous crowd of students, that I believed to be general course students.

"What business do you have with class 1-A? I believe that there are more elegant ways to collect information about us." I said, taking on my class representative role. "And by the way, it would be nice if you could clear the hallway, as we cannot get out right now."

"Well said, Aojikan. Get out of my way, you extras!" Bakugou yelled as I sighed. Would that guy ever change?

"I came to see what the famous class A was all about, but I must say I'm pretty disappointed by the arrogance." A purple-headed student said.

"Please do not think that Bakugou represents the will of the class. I will not be associated with what he says any day of the week."

"What was that, nerd?" Bakugou asked, his anger out of control.

"Even then, seeing something like this makes me pretty disillusioned." He said, scratching his head. "There are quite a few people who have enrolled in general or other courses because they didn't make it in the hero course. Did you know that? The school has left us a chance. Depending on the results of the sports festival, they may consider moving us in the hero course. This means that some of you may move out. To be honest, I have no interest in scouting you. I just came here to tell you that even if you are in hero course, if you get carried away, I will sweep your feet out under you. I came with a declaration of war."

"That is very blunt indeed. I will take this in consideration, as I already have. I don't know about the others, but personally, from the very beginning, I have considered everyone competing in this tournament a potential adversary. As they say, you can't judge a book from its cover, especially in a sports festival. You do bring a very interesting point to light: some of you might have quirks that are stronger than ours in one on one matches. To summarize, your declaration of war has only given me more information on how to defeat you. I hope you are satisfied."

As I said this, I started to head out with Kate. I heard another commotion start when a 1-B student told us that surviving the villains didn't mean that they were weaker than us, but Bakugou just ignored him and got out. But then Kirishima interrupted him:

"Bakugou, you're the reason everyone is hating on us! What are you gonna do about it?"

"It doesn't matter." He answered, with his own declaration of war. "It doesn't matter, as long as you rise to the top."

I was stunned. Had Bakugou just ruined all of my efforts to not make everyone hate us? I was not letting him speak again on the behalf of class 1-A, 'cause I'm the class representative, darn it!

Calming down a bit, we went to the canteen, and lunch was delicious as always. Made me forget the whole Bakugou incident. Once we had eaten, we immediately headed to the infirmary, waving to Iida, Ochaco and Deku on the way.

We knocked on the infirmary's door, and we heard Recovery Girl telling us to come in. She told us that she still had her doubts about how effective my method would be, but since it was done by Kate, it was probably fine. I laid down on the bed as Kate got ready to use the seal.

"Are you ready?" She asked.

"I've been ready since I got in this room." I answered, smirking.

"I'm getting started then." She said, breathing loudly as she tried to calm down. "**Sealing technique: The mark of the timely Metroid!**" As she yelled this, Edward appeared to help her draw the circles on me.

Clock patterns and Chozo emblems filled my body as the Metroid worked in timely fashion. Kate continued to outline the patterns until my torso was completely filled with them. She then gave a burst of energy, instantly stabilizing the seal, and making the patterns illuminate and disappear.

I felt a power rush through me, and my head felt a lot better than it had for the past few days. Distemporality was now under the control of this spell, so I wouldn't need to take as much paracetamol as before.

"I want to conduct a few tests before you leave, to make sure you aren't worst off than before." Recovery Girl said, sighing. "And if your results are better off than before, I guess you can start training for the sports festival in two days."

I was very happy when she said this, and even more so when the tests turned out overwhelmingly positive. She told me she still didn't want me to attend the afternoon lessons for today and tomorrow, but that it should be fine afterwards. Kate and I thanked her, and we left the infirmary.

"So, are you happy now?" Kate asked, smirking.

"Of course I am, I can finally go back to physical training."

"You were virtual training all this time?" She asked, sounding very surprised.

"Yes, I was meditating to keep Distemporality under my control." I admitted. "And I believe I might be able to take advantage of it. But no spoilers for the moment!"

"Right… I'll wait to see this. With the seal in its current state, you should be able to use your quirks for less than a second without dis-activating it. If you unlock the seal, you should still be able to use your quirk more freely than before, except if you are unlocking it longer than 2 minutes."

"Right, I'm taking note of this. Thanks again Kate, and see you tomorrow!"

"You're welcome… Goodbye!" She said as she waved.

* * *

The next weeks were essentially dedicated to our training. Using Distemporality, I learned a bunch of new techniques, and pushed my quirk to its absolute limits once more.

The day before the sports festival, Iida and Ochaco had finally managed to use their flames without rings, albeit very weak ones. Meanwhile, All Might was now as powerful as he was before – even though his power was still diminishing.

And Deku… Oh my goodness Deku, what kind of monster have I created with you? He was going to be a major threat in the festival, that was certain.

The day of the festival, a few minutes before the entering ceremony, I entered in the waiting room for class 1-A. I could hear Mina complaining about the fact she couldn't wear her costume, and Deku looked very stressed from where I was.

"Everyone, are you ready?" I asked, not getting any answer. "'Cause we'll be entering soon, and I'm sure nobody wants to miss that." Deku was even more stressed.

"Aojikan." Todoroki said, in his blasé voice.

"Oh, Todoroki. Is there a problem?" I asked, and some of our classmates started to pay attention to us.

"Looking at things objectively, I'm stronger than you."

"Now, now, you stop right here. There is no denying your quirk is more useful in certain situations, and you have more control of it. However, I believe that in a one on one fight, the odds are ever so slightly stacked in my favour."

"Even with your sickness?" He asked.

"Absolutely."

"Even then, All Might seems to have his eye on you, doesn't he?" He said after a moment of silence.

"I'm sure you've noticed his eye is more on Deku than it is on me, but I guess you're not entirely wrong. If I may ask, could you get to your point? I don't like this game of back and forth."

"I'm going to beat you."

The words resonated in my head._ Beat me, huh? And you talked about All Might… Wait a minute… He wants to beat the student who represents the pride of All Might, because he's Endeavour's son!_ I thought.

"Oh? Is the class first making a declaration of war to the second?" Kaminari asked, not noticing the tranquil fury bubbling in Bakugou.

"Hey, hey, no need to be so aggressive right? We're going to enter in a few minutes now!" Kirishima said, trying to calm down the battle between Todoroki and me.

"We're not here to make friends. So what does it matter?" He asked rhetorically.

"Todoroki, I'm not certain of what you actually mean by "I'm going to beat you", but it's true that you are probably more capable than me. In fact, you probably are more capable than most of the people here.

"However, when you consider that everyone is aiming for the top – the students of the other courses included-, then there is one fundamental problem with your assertion: You're underestimating the power of everyone's determination. And even if you are the most powerful person in the world, underestimating your opponents is one dangerous thing, Todoroki. Which is why I say: I'll be aiming for the top with all I've got too, and if you are on my way, I will beat you."

"Yeah." He said, blasé as always.

Everyone in the class was left speechless, and I could see Bakugou was starting to get very angry.

"Hey!" Present Mic's voice invaded our room. "Pay attention, audience! Swarm, mass media! This year's high school rodeo of adolescence that you all love, the UA sports festival is about to start! Everybody, are you ready?! It's the time for the students to enter the first-year stage!"

"Everyone, follow me!" I said quickly as Present Mic kept talking.

As everyone was presented, we got to the centre of the stage. Interestingly enough, Present Mic was showering us with praise, which wasn't doing any good to Deku's stress. I started to get stressed myself, but I tried to calm down to the best of my ability.

"Time for the player pledge!" Midnight, the "R-rated hero" said. "Quiet everyone! Representing the students is Wadokei Aojikan for class 1-A!"

"Oh come- Right, I'm coming." I said, sighing as I stepped next to the microphone, and as my stress levels reached the moon. "In the name of everyone present here, I pledge that we will take part in this tournament, abiding by the rules, and as UA students, that we will aim for the top. Or, I guess you could say: Plus Ultra."

I went back into the crowd, and it seemed that while people had not forgotten the Bakugou incident, my little speech made them more than happy to forgive it for the time being.

"Now, let's get started right away! The first game is what you'd call a qualifier! Every year, many drink their tears here! Now, here is the faithful first game!" Midnight said as a holographic screen appeared, and started rolling. "This year it's… this!" The words 'obstacle race' had appeared on the screen, seemingly randomly, but I was certain it had been planned beforehand.

However it had been decided didn't matter, even the announced length of 4 km didn't matter: if this was a race, I was going to finish first, no questions asked.

When Midnight said that everything was allowed as long as we stayed on the course, I couldn't help but smirk: this was going to be even easier.

As everyone took their places, a countdown appeared. I prepared the spell to unlock the seal, just in case, but I knew I wasn't going to need it.

As the counter hit zero, I instantly used my quirk in a short burst to go through everyone, and continued to use it to gain a big advance.

"Oh? What is this? Class 1-A's Wadokei Aojikan instantly gains an incredible advance, zooming across the competition!" Present Mic yelled as the audience got very excited. "It almost seems like he's cheating!"

"That's just his normal use of his quirk, there isn't much you can do against it." Aizawa said.

As everyone tried to get back to speed, I smirked as I realised that unless UA had a specific plan against my quirk, nobody was going to be able to keep up with me. As I had previously thought, this festival was going to be very interesting.

* * *

**A.N.: **I finished on time! Yay… Why does this happen all the time with me? I'm not gonna tell you what exactly happened, but just three words: League of Legends. It is too easy to get sidetracked on homework making when you're playing that game. Thank goodness I didn't have too much homework. Let's hope next week's chapter gets written more easily. See you next week!

_"JACKPOTTING!"_


	11. A boring race

**Chapter 11: ****A boring race**

I had gained so much advance, that I had completely skipped the part that people were at – namely, the fight against the huge robots from the entrance exam.

"Todoroki from class 1-A doesn't disappoint!" Present Mic yelled. "His ice spikes are humongous, and it looks like no robots are able to break through them! But what's this? Izuku Midoriya from class 1-A is moving very quickly too, and his punches are decimating the robots!"

"Let's not forget about Wadokei Aojikan, who is beginning "The fall"." Aizawa noted, and Present Mic instantly shifted focus.

"That's right! Aojikan is getting through "The fall" in a breeze! It doesn't even look like he's pushing a sweat! Look at him, he's just standing on a rope! And now he just got on another one!"

I had decided to relax a bit, but when I felt the air getting colder around me – a side-effect of Todoroki's quirk – I got serious again. These ropes really weren't challenging, and I moved on to the last obstacle.

I could feel the air ripple around me, which meant that Izuku wasn't far away. There was also a scent of explosions in the air, Bakugou was getting closer. However, when I heard Present Mic saying that Kate had just appeared besides them, I knew this was going to be a duel between her and me.

The final obstacle was a mine field all the way to the end. My options were limited here, as my quirk didn't give me much air mobility, nor did it give me information about the ground I could step on.

I turned my head to see Kate dashing towards me as I thought about my options. I faced the mine field again, having found the best solution in my opinion.

"Ibara has almost caught up to Aojikan! This race is very tight! However, I can see Aojikan using his quirk over and over… Do you have any idea of what's happening, Eraser Head?!"

"The last time he did this, a person in a red suit appeared out of nowhere, and he was in a hospital for a few days." Aizawa said with his monotone voice. "However, this doesn't look very similar. I have no idea of what he could be doing right now."

"That's true… But look at that! Todoroki, Midoriya and Bakugou are trying to catch up as well! And they are all very close to Ibara and Aojikan!"

"Let's do this… You ready, Edward?" I said, smiling to my partner.

"Always ready to serve you."

"Kind of one-note, huh?" I asked, but then I shook my head. "The others are getting closer, I don't have the time. Break seal: **Distemporality!**"

"Aojikan has finally moved! Or, I guess I should say that multiple clones of him have appeared! And he is running up to the finish line!"

All of these clones were Pauls from close timelines who had taken other paths than me. I couldn't where all the mines were, but with all of these people, it became possible to carve the best path.

"Oh no! Aojikan has just stepped on a mine! But what's this? He only disappeared, and instead he teleported to another point on the field!"

"What? That's cheating, Aojikan!" Kate yelled, going through the field with her vine hair.

"Ibara, please remember what Midnight said at the beginning of the exam: as long as we stay on the course, any move is legal." I said as I stepped on a mine, and switched to another clone.

"I'll make sure you can't win!"

As she said that, she charged on me, and I slowed down time to give her a kick in the belly. When time resumed, she was already flying back as I was getting near the finish line.

"You won't win, you nerd!" Bakugou yelled.

I slowed down time once more, and jumped one last time on the floor, using the boost from one of the mines to go faster. As I crossed the finish line, I could see that Kate and Izuku were actually the closest to me, and that Todoroki and Bakugou were a bit further behind.

"And Aojikan wins the race!"

I relaxed as I came back to the stadium. I had put the seal back in place so I could actually fight in the rest of the tournament. Kate quickly finished the race, scoring second, and she jumped on me immediately after finishing.

"Paul!"

"Kate, what are you doing?" I said, now on the ground.

"I can't believe you were first… but it doesn't matter now, 'cause I can do anything that I want!"

"No, Kate, that was during the race." I reminded her.

"That's not fair!" She said, standing up. "I'll make sure you can't go any further!"

"You can try… That would only be one more rival." I said.

Deku quickly joined us, having scored third. As we headed for the stadium, I could hear Bakugou yelling about the fact that he clearly arrived fourth, not 'half and half guy'.

* * *

Once the top 42 students from the race had been grouped together in the stadium, Midnight took the microphone once more.

"The second round of the UA sports festival for the 1st years will be… A cavalry battle between the top 42 students from the qualifier! Those from the top will suffer more. You will hear this many times in UA: this is what Plus ultra means! Wadokei Aojikan, who scored first in the race, is worth 10 million points!"

Everyone glared at me, looking like they were ready to do absolutely anything to take the points. I sighed, because I had felt that coming, and decided that this would be the best time as ever for a witty comeback:

"Besides, what does it really matter that I have 10 million points? Technically speaking, you have a better chance of winning if you aren't targeting the guy who everyone is going to attack. I know that this won't make anyone back off, but let this be heard: I'm not afraid of you!"

I think everyone glared even harder after I said that, and I saw Bakugou was starting to get really angry. Midnight tried to calm everyone down by explaining the rules, but I'm certain it didn't calm explosion dude down.

"The time limit is 15 minutes. Each team is worth the total of its members' points. And the riders will wear a headband with that number on their foreheads. Teams will try to grab each other's headbands until time runs out. Stolen headbands must be worn from the neck up. So the more you steal, the harder it'll become to manage them! And the most important thing is that even if you lose your headband, or if your team falls, you're not out!"

"Knew it! They wouldn't enable people to steal if you were out immediately once they took their headbands." I said to Kate. "They like comebacks too much to do this."

"During the fight, you are of course allowed to use your quirks." Midnight carried on. "But it's still a cavalry battle. You'll get a red card for any attack that tries to make people fall on purpose! You'll be removed immediately!"

"Damn." I heard Bakugou say.

"Now, you have fifteen minutes to form a team!"

In my case, points weren't important. I instead had to consider people whose quirks would allow me to either dodge everyone's attacks, or attack everyone else. I decided that two people on my team should be defensive, and a possible fourth member would be offensive, if so required.

I started to look around, noticing that Kate was already gone. It looked she was playing the rivalry card very hard. I thought for a while, and then I saw that Tokoyami had no teammates. I remembered that his quirk could provide a good cover, so I went to see him.

"Yo, Tokoyami!" I greeted, smiling. "You want to be on my team? It looks like you and I haven't found anyone yet."

"I wouldn't mind teaming up with you… But we need to find another member. Two persons to protect ten million points isn't enough."

"I agree with you, two persons isn't enough." I said, looking around. "Oh? It looks like Deku and Ochaco are alone… What do you think about those two?"

He silently nodded, and we went to greet them. Deku admitted that he was quite scared of being targeted, but I told him this wasn't a problem.

"Why wouldn't this be a problem?" Ochaco asked, very surprised.

"Very simple: our mission is not to protect the 10 million points, but instead to score second place by taking the headbands of the people who attack us. Of the teams who are likely to attack us, three of them have a rider who was in the top 5." I explained, whispering so other people couldn't hear the plan. "We'll make it look like we're protecting the 10 million points, but close to the end we will take advantage of the fact they're not paying attention to us any more to steal other headbands.

"Oh, and if they ever see us doing it and start chasing us, this is what we will do..."

* * *

**A.N.: **I'm cutting this chapter a bit short to post on time and have a terrific cliffhanger. Don't you worry, we'll be back next week for a new chapter of _The quirky adventures!_

_"BADNESS!"_


	12. Riding to victory

**Chapter 12: ****Riding to victory**

"And the second round of the UA sports festival for first years… Begins!" Present Mic yelled, and the cavalry battle begun.

Almost instantly, all teams started to attack team Aojikan, composed of Aojikan himself, Izuku, Ochaco and Tokoyami. Of these teams, three were notable for having riders that scored in the top 5 of the previous round.

Firstly, team Bakugou had the support of Kirishima with his Hardening quirk, Sero with his duck tape quirk and Mina with her Acid quirk. He had eyes of fury, and looked determined to take Aojikan down.

Secondly, Todoroki was in a team with Iida, Tooru and Yaoyorozu. One would think he would team up with someone else than the invisible girl, but the person who he wanted to team up with was already taken.

Finally, Ibara had grouped up with Kaminari with his Lightning quirk, Rikido with his Sugar Rush quirk and Jiro with her Earphone Jack quirk. She had 'stolen' Kaminari from the hands of Todoroki, so to say. She had formed a plan as Midnight had explained the rules, and rushed to see the people needed for her plan.

Aojikan expertly dodged all of their attacks, including a frontal assault from Bakugou, a lightning-induced vine, and a careful side-attack from Todoroki. He used his quirk for only a couple of instants each time, flying through the attacks.

"Okay, let's change positions. Tokoyami, cover us!" He said as Izuku started to run away.

Dark shadow protected them from most projectiles coming, and Aojikan was careful to look around for any direct threat to dodge. Other teams were constantly attacking them, so it was hard not to fall in a trap when projectiles were coming for you every three quarters of a second.

"Incredible! It's only been 3 minutes since the start, but every team is already trying to get the 10 million headband!" Present Mic yelled.

"That's not entirely true." Aizawa said in his blasé voice. "It looks like a team from class 1-B is taking headbands left and right, and they're already second place."

"You're right! This is even more incredible!" Present Mic yelled, possibly even harder.

Team Aojikan had indeed crossed the path of team Monoma, a student from class 1-B who had decided to steal headbands from lower point teams.

'Looks like I'm not the only one to have thought about that.' Aojikan thought, as he went past him.

Meanwhile, team Ibara was searching for Aojikan, as he had disappeared from Ibara's field of vision. She was yelling to Rikido to turn left, then right, then left again. Eventually, Rikido stopped and said:

"Hey, Ibara, I know you really want to find Aojikan, but could you please stop changing directions every two seconds? It's really confusing me."

"Ah! Sorry about that, I keep seeing his back and he never stays in one spot for more than a second." Ibara apologized. "Wait a minute, I've got an idea!"

"What's the big plan, Ibara?" Jiro asked.

"We're going to send Kaminari's electricity through the ground, and listen to the echo it makes." Ibara explained.

"Oh! It's like a radar!" Kaminari said.

"But how do we differentiate Aojikan's steps from anyone else?" Jiro asked.

"Simple: he's slowing down to move faster, and Izuku's quirk sends loads of shock waves through the ground." Ibara said. "We only need to send another signal to weaken the normal foot step, so Aojikan's team is the only one that we can hear."

"What are we waiting for then?" Kaminari asked.

"Getting your headband back would be a good thing to do." Monoma said as he stole Ibara's headband.

"You're from class 1-B, aren't you?" Ibara asked.

"Nice guess, Sherlock! And thanks for the headband!" He said as he started running away.

"Don't think class 1-A is all talk." Ibara said as she took back her headband and stole his with her vines. "Or at least be ready for the consequences!"

"**Lightning Vines!" **Ibara and Kaminari yelled simultaneously, shocking Monoma and his team so hard they couldn't move for the next 15 seconds.

"That's what you get for underestimating us." Ibara said. "Now, let's get back on track. Aojikan, I will find you!" Ibara doubled her hand into a fist, and she started burning with sun flames.

Meanwhile, team Bakugou and team Todoroki were both fighting against team Aojikan. However, neither of them were able to get the headband, because Aojikan was taking advantage of the fact that the two riders hated each other to make them fight themselves.

"Hey, Bakugou, don't you want to attack Todoroki instead? I heard him say something about not using all of his powers…"

"What was that you said, half and half dude? You think we're not good enough for you to use your full power?" Bakugou asked, looking furious. "Kirishima, change of plans: we're going to teach this bastard not to underestimate us, damn it!"

"And this is how we win!" Aojikan said, taking advantage of the commotion to run away.

"Not if I don't have a say in it!" Ibara said, suddenly appearing from behind.

"Oh? you're approaching me? Instead of running away, you're actually getting closer?" Aojikan referenced, not subtle in the slightest.

"I can't take the 10 million points without getting any closer to you!" Ibara said, involuntary continuing the reference.

"Oh ho! Then come as close as you need." He said.

Ibara didn't wait for Aojikan's reply and had already attached her vines around his team, ready to electrocute them when necessary. Tokoyami, Izuku and Ochaco all looked at Aojikan for guidance, but he was just smirking.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He said, silently making a sign to his teammates. "Because, you know, I've got the power of… THE WORLD!"

As he said this, he slowed down time, and Tokoyami was able to get rid of the vines using his quirk. Meanwhile, Ochaco used her quirk on the team and Izuku leapt away with One for All.

In an instant, time resumed its normal course, and Aojikan's team had disappeared once more. Ibara got furious when she realised that, and she told her teammates that no error would be allowed any more if they wanted to get the 10 million points.

"Incredible! Team Aojikan survived yet another attack from team Ibara!" Present Mic yelled, and the audience got as excited as he was. "We have now entered the second part of this round, and the 10 million headband is still attached to Aojikan's head! Will he lose it before the end of the timer? Only time will tell!"

"There is something weird about the way Aojikan is behaving though..." Aizawa said.

"Oh? And what would that be, Aizawa?"

"Generally speaking, Aojikan is very rational and prudent, almost to a fault. But right now, he doesn't even look remotely interested in keeping the ten million points. He's taking too many risks for that. Instead, I believe he's much more interested in second place rather than first."

"An interesting theory, Aizawa. Let's see if it's true or not!" Present Mic yelled.

Aojikan was dodging explosions from Bakugou, ice spikes from Todoroki, and basically any other projectile you could think of. No road roller though.

However, it was getting harder and harder to dodge, and Aojikan felt like his time was up. He looked at the time left, and he shifted strategies immediately.

Dodging one more attack, he went to the centre of the ring, and yelled loudly for anyone to hear:

"Hey everyone! I'm sure anyone would love to get their hands on this beautiful 10 million headband, so I'm offering it to anyone who deserves it, as long as I say so. What are you waiting for? Catch me if you can!"

Almost instantly, the team was the centre of everyone's attention, and Aojikan made sure not to lose the headband in the starting onslaught. In this fight, rational thinking quickly disappeared as most teams took any risks just to get their hands on the 10 million points.

Because it wasn't a coordinated attack, instead being closer to a free-for-all, Aojikan had no problem dodging most of the teams. In fact, he was even making teams attack other teams by placing himself in front of them.

However, as soon as Todoroki, Bakugou and Ibara got serious, it became very hard to dodge all of their attacks at the same time. These 3 teams took advantage of Aojikan's moments of inattention to constantly pressure him.

Suddenly, Aojikan looked at the time left, and after a frontal assault from Bakugou and a shock wave from Ibara, Aojikan was stunned long enough for Todoroki to steal his headband.

"Thanks, Todoroki!" Aojikan said, activating his quirk and disappearing out of the battlefield. "For the headband of course!"

As he said this, Ibara noticed that he had indeed stolen her headband. Not only hers, but 3 other team's headbands had been stolen. Notably, Todoroki, Bakugou and Monoma had all lost theirs too. When she realised this, she got furious and she tried to find Aojikan.

Unable to see him around, she used the radar technique, but weirdly enough, it didn't quite work. Confused, she tried once more, only for Jiro to realise she could hear very faint sounds. Ibara finally understood: Aojikan had once more deactivated the seal, meaning he could use his quirk for much longer periods of time. She looked at the timer, and saw that there were only 4 minutes left.

Meanwhile, Todoroki's team was now the centre of attention, and they had still not noticed the loss of their headband because of it. Bakugou's team did quickly realise it, and it didn't take long before Bakugou told his team to chase Aojikan down.

"Aojikan may have lost the 10 million points, but he decided to steal other people's headbands to make it worth it!" Present Mic yelled. "He's now second place, with an incredible 1400 points!"

"It looks like that was his strategy from the beginning, and getting everyone's attention was just a ploy to get more points." Aizawa analysed, sounding as bored as usual. "It looks like Bakugou's team wants to get their points back, but thanks to Todoroki stealing the 10 million points, looks like nobody else will want to get back their headband. All in all, it's a quite risked strategy, but it seems to work out very well."

"Whatever his strategy may be, there are still three minutes left, and nobody knows what could happen in this timespan!" Present Mic said, trying to raise the suspense. "And it looks like Bakugou has finally got close to Aojikan! Will he be able to take back the stolen headband?!"

Bakugou didn't wait any longer and jumped on Aojikan to get his headband back. It turned out to be a pretty bad idea as Aojikan easily dodged and used his quirk to attack Sero. This attack disabled the tape user's quirk for enough time that he couldn't grab Bakugou.

"See, Bakugou, that's why you don't do a horizontal jump." Aojikan said as he ran away. "You're too close to the ground and your team is weak to attacks during this crucial moment."

"I will get my headband back!" Bakugou said as he managed to use his explosions to stay in the air long enough for Kirishima to grab him once more.

"I don't believe it will be this easy, Bakugou!" Aojikan said after checking the timer.

He started to run away using his quirk, and taped into Distemporality to confuse Bakugou. Finally, when he was in a pretty isolated corner of the arena, he started to talk with his team:

"It's a bit early to execute the plan, but I'm scared that Bakugou or Ibara might find us. And if they do at the same time, it will be quite difficult to protect against it."

"Shouldn't we at least wait for the 13 minute mark?" Tokoyami asked.

"Yeah, I agree with Tokoyami." Izuku said. "Are you really able to stay in the air for 2 minutes and 30 seconds?"

"If I use my quirk perfectly, and Ochaco waits for the last moment to cancel her quirk, it should work out." Aojikan answered.

"What are we waiting for then? If we wait for too long they might find us out!" Ochaco said, looking very scared.

"Let's begin then. Ochaco, use your quirk on us!"

The girl quickly followed instructions, and almost instantly, Izuku jumped with Aojikan and Tokoyami into the air. Aojikan was now inside Tokoyami's Dark Shadow, and he slowed down time. As he did, Izuku threw them upwards with One for All, wishing them good luck.

As time resumed its normal speed, they were flung up into the air. Aojikan stopped time once more when he knew they had reached their peak height, and Tokoyami threw him up even farther with Dark Shadow.

Now separated from all of his teammates, Aojikan slowed down time on his way up to reach the maximum height. He suddenly felt Zero Gravity ending, although he couldn't quite see Ochaco cancelling it from where he was.

"What just happened? Aojikan is now flying in the air, thanks to an incredible coordinated technique executed with his teammates!" Present Mic yelled as the audience was getting so excited that Aojikan could hear them clearly from where he was. "So this was his strategy! Who could have guessed it? With his current altitude, there is no way anyone could actually steal his headbands before time runs out!"

"The only one who could possibly counter him would be Bakugou, but trying to fly up this height seems a bit risked for a couple of headbands." Aizawa said. "This is perhaps not a perfect strategy, but it's clear that with the lack of attention form most of the other teams, he is basically free to do whatever he pleases. It's not like anyone else can get close to him at the moment, so I believe we are seeing the true winner of this round right now."

"Such an interesting theory, Aizawa! Let's see what happens! After all, there's no telling that Bakugou can't get revenge!" Present Mic said, obviously trying to raise the suspense as Aizawa had basically nuked it.

Aojikan felt great in the air. If he had put any theme song right now, it would be No game no life, because he had absolutely gotted(_sic – reference in the AN_) the other teams. Now of course, he could also be playing any Jojo theme, but this moment was missing some Ora Ora. Or he could put some Katekyo Hitman Reborn music. As long as it was a music that signified winning, it would be fine.

He could see a small form with seemingly blond hair trying to get up to his height. He smirked, knowing that a furious Bakugou would make all the errors needed for him to keep his height during the rest of the round.

Eventually, Bakugou got up to Aojikan's level. It didn't feel quite as long as it was for the time user as he was actually accelerating the flow of time, making him go slower, and staying in the air for longer. The blond-haired boy tried to take the headbands, but instead of getting any of them, Aojikan used him as a platform to gain more height.

Bakugou tried to get the headbands again, only for the same thing to happen. Aojikan was ready to do it as much as it was required to win the match, even if it meant having a massive headache by the end of the match.

After Aojikan had used Bakugou as a platform a couple more times, a huge ice spike came for them. Surprised, both boys looked down to see that Todoroki had noticed they were flying in the air, most likely due to Present Mic's constant yelling.

This ice spike actually proved to be beneficial to Aojikan as he was able to use it to stay in the air even longer that he had wanted to. Looking around, he saw Bakugou was trying to come from behind this time. Jumping on him was even easier, and Aojikan decided to tell him something he had noticed about the rules.

"Bakugou, you know how they said that attacking people to make them fall is illegal? This means that while me jumping on you isn't illegal, attacking me from behind, sending me downwards would be. Basically, all of your offensive moves are now prohibited. What will you do?"

"Damn you, nerd!" Bakugou answered as he tried once more to steal the headbands.

"Didn't I tell you that wouldn't work?" Aojikan said, using him as a platform once more. "You don't listen to anyone, do you, Bakugou?"

"I will kill you!"

Aojikan didn't reply to this one, instead deciding to dodge his attack and dive towards the arena. Bakugou followed him by using explosions to fly across him. He had not planned that this would send him towards the arena even faster than Aojikan. He tried to reverse back to his initial position, but Aojikan was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a headband had been left behind.

Bakugou took the headband, and saw that there was something written on it: _'Good job on taking this headband. And yes, before you wonder, that was part of my plan as well. Cheers mate!'_

"Get back here, you bastard!" Bakugou said, furious that he had been tricked so much.

However, it was too late as he was very far from the time-manipulating boy, who had already got back on his horses. When Bakugou did get back on Kirishima and the others, he told them to charge, but as he did, the round ended, and team Aojikan had scored second.

In first place, there was team Todoroki, who had managed to keep the 10 million points until the end. Surprisingly, team Shinso had scored third place, and team Bakugou was at fourth place.

"Uhhhhh. I've got a proper headache now..." Aojikan said, holding his head as if it was going to fall.

"That's what you get for trying to best everyone else." Ibara said, pouting. "Though I must say I was quite impressed by your performance. You did shock us if that was your intention."

"Ibara, I wouldn't mind normally, but if you keep talking I might have to punch you so my headache doesn't get any worst." He said.

"Do you want to go to the infirmary?" She asked, looking very concerned.

"Yes, please!" He said.

The two of them got out of the ring, and when they got to the infirmary, Recovery Girl scolded Aojikan for breaking the seal again. He apologized, saying that he got carried away. The seal was recovered by Ibara and Edward, and they were dismissed.

With this round over, Aojikan tried to ponder what could happen in the next one. Team Shinso scoring third place was definitely a surprise, seeing as he had been behind during the whole match.

However, before he could ponder more about it, he saw something that was perhaps even more surprising. Izuku and Todoroki were in one of the corridors, talking to each other. Were they trying to make an alliance? If so, Aojikan had to stop it immediately. Nobody knew what the final round was going to be, so there was a possibility that being allies secretly could give people a massive advantage.

* * *

**A.N.: **The chapter this time turned out to be a bit longer. I had more time to write it, so I hope you enjoyed it! As always, if you have suggestions, please leave a review! I'm not exactly sure of what fights to do in this arc, but I have a couple of plans ready. And if you have any suggestions for Aojikan's hero name, feel free to leave it too. See you next week!

_"At last, my entrance with drama!"_


	13. Half-cold and Half-hot: the prequel

**Chapter 13: ****Half-cold and Half-hot: the prequel**

I ended up quite disappointed when I heard their discussion, and I couldn't help but laugh when Todoroki asked Deku if he was All Might's secret love child. Like, come on, that was the funniest thing I had heard in the entire day. There was no way I was not laughing to this.

Kate glared at me as if we were on a mission and keeping stealth was important – she wasn't completely wrong on the latter. Izuku and Todoroki were very surprised, so I decided to explain why I was here.

"I couldn't help but stay when I saw you were talking to each other because I was scared you would be talking about something related to the last round. Because if you were in an alliance, I think I would not hold any chance of defeating you. Except doing what I just did in the previous round, but I would not like to do it again."

"Well, that's fine, I forgive you." Todoroki said, and I could see Deku shared his opinion.

"I'll leave you then. Wouldn't want to interrupt your conversation any longer." I said, relieved that it wasn't a problem.

"No, you can stay. I have a few questions to ask you as well." Todoroki said as I was leaving.

"Okay, if you say so. And by the way, Deku isn't All Might's secret love child." I said, smirking.

"Oh. Well, I'm still sure there's a connection between you two." Todoroki said to Izuku. "Your quirks are way too similar, there's no way its a coincidence."

I could see Deku was stressed, and I thought it would be a good idea to change the subject before All Might's secrets were revealed. But before I could, Todoroki began talking again.

"But I don't really care about it. What I want to tell you is that Endeavour is my dad. As you may know, he's been stuck in second place since forever. If you have a link with the number one hero, then this gives me even more reason to defeat you."

I had already pieced the fact that he was Endevour's son together, thanks to him having the same family name, and seemingly having a similar quirk. I had already told Kate, so Deku was the only one who ended up surprised.

There was still something that was puzzling me though. I knew he wanted to defeat Deku and me because we were linked to All Might, and he was Endeavour's son. The question was: was Endeavour behind this will? Or was it Todoroki's own desire? I knew that it was linked to Endeavour, but I had no idea what was the link.

"My old man has a strong desire to rise in the world." Todoroki kept on explaining. "He got to number two thanks to his crushing strength. Because of this, the living legend, All Might is a constant eyesore to him. When he realised he couldn't surpass him, he moved on to his next plan."

"What are you trying to tell us, Todoroki?" Deku asked, not getting the point.

"You've heard of quirk marriages, right?" Todoroki said, confirming my assumptions. "That thing that became a problem for the second and third generation after superpowers appeared."

"Care if I explain? I've done some research on the subject." I said, remembering all the stuff I had read when I was 3 or older. Todoroki nodded. "It consists in choosing a spouse based only on the quirk they have, so that your children's combined quirk ends up stronger. It came about because of a lack of ethics. The only problem is that because of genetics, you need to get multiple children if you want the correct quirk. Your father, to be honest, doesn't seem like a good man, Todoroki."

"He isn't, he's a total scumbag." Todoroki said, surprising us by his violent words. "He got a hold of my mother's quirk, and then he raised me to be a hero stronger than All Might. I don't want to be the tool of such scum. In my memories, my mother is always crying. 'Your left sight is unsightly', my mother said as she poured boiling water on me."

Deku and Kate were both shocked to no end, gasping for air. I, myself, wasn't fairing much better, but I could see where this was going, and I was really hoping that I would fight him before he or I fell out of the tournament.

"That's why I picked a fight with you, Aojikan: to show him what I can do, without using my damn old man's quirk…" He said, a tranquil fury appearing in his eyes. "No… I will reject him completely by winning first place without using it."

I looked at him, and could see he was determined to do so. He started leaving, and Deku and Kate were also leaving when I told Todoroki to stop. I caught up to him – not that he had gone far – and told him my own will.

"Todoroki, as I said previously, I am determined to win as well. I need to get stronger, to have more and more experiences with my quirk, to learn more about it, and… to find my way back home. However, when you said that you would score first place without your father's quirk, I knew there was going to be a slight change in my plans.

"Todoroki, I will gladly forfeit my victory if I can make you understand that your quirk is yours, 100%, left _and_ right side. Your left side doesn't belong to your father. You don't have to be disgusted with it, because it's not his. And I believe it's ridiculous to go in this tournament, where everyone is trying their absolute best, pushing their limits, with only 50% of your abilities. If you somehow disagree, then fight me. But be warned, I won't stop until you accept the truth!"

Todoroki didn't reply anything. He just kept on walking to where he was going. But I could feel it: somewhere, deep inside of him, my words had had an impact on him. It might have been small, and he might not have realised yet, but I knew that eventually it would change him for the better.

After this emotional roller-coaster, I decided to go find lunch with Deku and Kate, as I was getting pretty hungry. I had never tried it before, but the fish and chips at the cafeteria was very good. Now, I had eaten much better fish and chips in my previous life, but not one as good in this timeline.

Once lunch break was over, we were invited to go back in the centre of the stadium. The audience was still screaming as loudly as before, and Present Mic began talking once more.

"Now that lunch is over, it's finally time to reveal the last game!" He announced, as excited as ever. "But before that, I have some good news for those of you who didn't make it to the finals! This is just a sport festival! So we've prepared some recreational games that everyone can participate in, too! We've even brought real cheerleaders from America! So everyone, let's have fun in the recreational games!

"When that's over, the 16 from the four teams who made it to the final round will duke it out tournament-style, one-on-one!"

This concluded Present Mic's small speech, and Midnight took the microphone after standing up on the stage.

"Now, let's draw lots to determine the bracket. Once the bracket is determined, we will have the recreational games and then start! The 16 finalists will chose whether or not to participate in the recreation. I'm sure some of you want to save your strength for the final round. Now, from the first team-"

"Um, excuse-me!" Ojiro, of all people, said. "I'm withdrawing."

All people gasped of shock. I was shocked too, but instead of saying anything, I tried to think about what reasons could lead him to this decision. I tried to remember on what team he was, and then it came to me: _team Shinso. _I thought about it, and I knew this was the clue that would enable me to discover the boy's quirk.

"Ojiro, why?" Deku asked.

"This is a rare chance for the pros to see you." Iida added.

"I barely remember anything from the cavalry battle up until the end." Ojiro said, giving precious information about Shinso's possible quirk. "I think it was that guy's quirk. I know that it's a great chance, and that it's foolish to waste it…"

"But your pride won't let you do it." I completed, starting to realise why he was forfeiting.

"Exactly. I can't compete with people who have given their all as I don't even know how I got here!" He said, covering his face with his hand.

"Understandable." I said, patting him on the back.

He silently thanked me as an other student came to the front as well.

"I'm Nirengeki Shoda from class 1-B. I also would like to withdraw for the same reason." He said. "Regardless of ability, don't you think it goes against the spirit of this sport festival for those who didn't do anything to move on to the final round?"

"Why are those guys so manly?" I could hear Kirishima say, tears in his eyes.

"Youthful talk like this is something… I like!" Midnight said, pausing for suspense. "Shoda! Ojiro! I accept your withdrawal!"

I was quite shocked that she had chosen only based on her tastes, but it turned out well so I was willing to forgive her.

"In that case, we'll have to move up two people from the fifth place cavalry battle team." She pondered.

"Yes!" Kate yelled, and I could see the complete happiness she was experiencing.

Jiro and Rikido declined the offer, leaving Kaminari with the place. However, I could see from a distance that Tetsutetsu from class 1-B was very sad not being in the final round. I thought about the bracket, and realised that there weren't any people from class 1-B. I thought that would be no fun, and decided to resolve this problem.

"Excuse me!" I said after clearing my throat. "I have just noticed that there are no competitors from class 1-B, and I believe that is quite sad. Now, you are free to ignore my suggestion, but what if we gave one of them of chance? Or perhaps also one of the support classes? Now, either two people drop out, or we have a pre-final bracket to decide who gets in, and who gets out."

Midnight didn't answer for a while, so I concluded that she didn't like the idea, and that we would move on without any other classes. However, in an instant, her face changed and she was on fire.

"I like this idea! Does anyone else want to withdraw?" She said.

I looked around for potential candidates, and eventually, I saw that Tooru had lifted her hand up. She explained that she was scared people wouldn't see her anyway, and she hadn't done much in team Todoroki.

In the end, it was decided that Tetsutestsu would replace her, as nobody else wanted the position as much as he did. And by this I mean that he duelled everyone who wanted the position in arm wrestling. It turned out that nobody was as good as him and he was moved up by default.

In the end, the brackets were the following:

Wadokei Aojikan vs. Hitoshi Shinso

Shoto Todoroki vs. Tenya Iida

Ibara Shiozaki vs. Denki Kaminari

Hanta Sero vs. Izuku Midoriya

Mina Ashido vs. Yuga Aoyama

Fumikage Tokoyami vs. Momo Yaoyorozu

Eijiro Kirishima vs. Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu

Katsuki Bakugo vs. Ochaco Uraraka

When I saw that I was paired up against Shinso, I knew that I was at a pretty major disadvantage. While he basically knew how my quirk worked, I only had theories to the possible ways his quirk functioned.

"It's you isn't it? Wadokei Aojikan." He said in my back.

I had no idea how he got here, nor did I know what to answer. The guy had seen me before, he should know who I am! Nevertheless, I was about to answer him when Ojiro, appearing out of nowhere – my goodness, that's two people in a row! – covered my mouth with his tail.

"Don't answer him." He said.

This gave me the pretty important information that his quirk was activated if you answered him. The question was: Is it instant though? I thought it would be pretty interesting to test this out, but I decided to wait until our battle to answer this question.

Present Mic announced that the recreational games were starting, but I decided to pass, mostly to prepare my strategy against Shinso. Soon enough though, Kate found me, and my plan went down in the drain. It's kind of hard to concentrate on anything when your girlfriend is constantly hugging you, saying your name every 3 seconds.

Eventually, I abandoned the fight and completely gave in to the affection I was receiving. I did ask her if we could find a more private space to do it, because Deku and Ojiro were in the same room.

This time unfortunately didn't last long, and I was invited to go in the corridor for my upcoming battle. I had not realised that being first in the bracket actually meant you were in the first battle. Kate laughed when I said that, and she told me that the grand genius Aojikan might need to think a bit more if he didn't want to forget what two plus two is equal to.

"Oh come on Kate, I could never forgive that two plus two is equal to two times two, which is equal to two to the power two, which is also equal to the number of teams that have won the previous round. And of course, let's not forget that it is equal to the smallest squared prime, being the only even number in this category."

"Aojikan, is it because you're stressed that you're citing a Wikipedia article?" She asked, looking actually worried. "Get going already, or else you'll get even more stressed!"

I followed her advice and ended up in one of these big corridors that led to the centre of the stadium. I could hear the audience screaming as loud as ever after Present Mic had once more made himself known.

I didn't bother listening to his speech, instead focusing on the very small plan I had made, thanks to Ojiro's information. I turned my head to see the arena, and I could see that the audience was still very excited.

And then, out of nowhere, flames burned in the 4 corners of the arena. _Flames, _coming out of nowhere! There was nobody to light them up, they just did. I had no idea how this was happening, and I was now convinced that all logic had been thrown out of the window. I then realised that there was someone lighting up the flames with his quirk, so I was quite relieved that the laws of logic had not been broken yet. Conventional physics had been broken the day I had discovered my powers.

Anyhow, Present Mic started to present me, so I took this as my cue to get moving. Meanwhile Shinso was moving towards the arena as well. Finally, Present Mic actually said something useful by presenting the rules.

"The rules are simple: Force your opponent out of bounds, or immobilize them! You can also win by making your opponent say "I give up!" Bring on the injuries, because we have our own Recovery Girl waiting on standby! Put your morals and ethics aside for a moment!" _That is simply not happening, _I thought. "But of course, anything life-threatening is out of the question! It's not allowed! Heroes should only use their fists to capture villains!"

"I'll stop them if they go too far." Cementoss said, sitting on a concrete 'throne' he had created.

"'I give up', huh?" Shinso said suddenly. "This is a fight to test the strength of your spirit. If you know what you want for your future, then you can't worry about appearances."

I would have replace the 'spirit' by determination or dying will, but apart from that I agreed with the 1st part. However, the second part was more problematic in my eyes.

"Ready?" Present Mic yelled.

"This monkey was going on about his pride..."

"Start!"

"… but don't you think he was dumb for throwing away his chance?" He continued, and now I really couldn't agree with him any more.

I knew what I was about to do was stupid. I had no idea what was going to happen, nor if I would be able to do anything once I had done it. But if I didn't do it, then I wouldn't get the information I would need to fight, and I wouldn't be able to defend Ojiro's pride.

"One could think so. However, I disagree!" I said using my quirk.

And in an instant, everything went white.

* * *

**A.N.: **I could have written the whole fight here, but I thought it was more interesting to tease it. Well, we've finally arrived at the tournament! It's time to experiment with what Aojikan can do! I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I do writing it, because I'm pumped to write next week's chapter! See you later!

_"And I am thinking you should be sleeping more!"_


	14. Time and mind manipulation

**A.N.: **Hello again! I hope everything's going nicely for you! I'm very excited to write this chapter, as it's gonna be a new fighting scene!

And by the way, I have just seen that there were a couple of reviews posted a few days ago! Thanks a lot. I'll try to answer quickly:

**Rathaloski Mozsko : **Sorry, no roadroller in this scene. It's surprisingly hard to find one in UA.

**Pacman : **I don't want to spoil too much, but he has three types of power. First, his quirk is time manipulation. Then, he can manipulate all dying will flames, but lightning is his main flame. Finally, he can EM-wave change with his metroid to use magic. Feel free to PM me if you have other questions.

**Little Liar : **Good that you like anime. I don't know how you would have found this fanfiction otherwise.

* * *

**Chapter 14: ****Time and mind manipulation**

Everything went blank. I couldn't feel any of my body parts, nor get any information from the environment around me. The only thing that I could sort of feel was a dull pain coming from my head. But even this was hard to feel.

Eventually, I went back to my senses, and I could see Shinso was panting heavily. The headache came back even harder, and it was hard to focus for a few instants. I still was able to listen to Present Mic's constant yelling, which gave me the information I needed.

"How did this happen? Both Aojikan and Shinso mysteriously stopped moving, but now they're back! Any idea on how this happened, Aizawa?"

"My only theory would be that their quirks both blocked one another, making them unable to move. But it's only a theory, I can't say for sure."

"Well, now that they're back, the fight can go on!" Present Mic yelled, but this time I could not bear it any more.

"Will he just shut up!" Shinso and I said at the same time. Both of us were quite surprised, as we had never predicted that this would have happened.

"Wait… Do you have headaches as well?" I asked, not letting him use his quirk on me again.

"Yes… And you do too… I was not expecting this, to be honest." He said, still panting. "It doesn't matter. I will beat you, whether we're similar or not. Am I right?"

Nobody said anything for a while. I was silently counting in my head, and when 30 seconds had passed, I would answer his question. I lunged on him to silence him with my hand, so that he could not ask any other question. It was a precarious position but once 30 seconds were over, I stopped covering his mouth and said:

"I do not agree with you!" I was preparing my quirk, but this time, nothing happened.

"Are you… testing my quirk?" He asked. "How good is it to know how long my quirk is active for, if I can ask multiple questions?"

"Have you ever wondered the limits of your quirk?" I questioned after waiting for five seconds. Immediately, the world went blank, but I had used my quirk at the same time, so I knew he would have to stop eventually.

"Will you stop this?" He asked, after giving up his control. "This is ridiculous, of course I have tested the limits of my quirk! Would you like me to do the same?"

"You're already doing it." I said, testing if his quirk was automatic or not. Turns out it wasn't, but he still was able to use it – only as I did though.

We were once more in this situation, and I decided it was time to end this. Not only was it getting ridiculously painful, but I also had the information I wanted. So after the world came back to normal, I immediately started talking again.

"Look, I understand your situation. Your quirk had made you into a villain for your classmates ever since you've had it. Not only this, but you couldn't get into hero course. And now, you're giving your all against someone who doesn't even look like he's serious. I've felt that before."

He looked like he was about to say something, but I used my quirk before he did. I pushed him off of the arena, and time resumed its normal flow. Midnight declared me victor, and Present Mic yelled that I had won. As the audience cheered me on, I jumped onto the ground, and helped Shinso to get back on his feet.

"I'm sorry for this. You might not get a chance to get in hero course." I said, shaking my head. "But I saw your determination, and I'm not letting that go through the drain. I'll try to do everything that I can to get you into hero course. I won't let you behind! And, if you want to, I propose that you join my training group. It might come in handy."

"No thanks, I would prefer climbing on my own." He said, turning around.

"Sometimes, you need the help of others. Voluntary help." I said, grinning. "It's fine if you want to go solo, but if you ever need some help, please, come to me."

"Yeah, whatever you say."

We went into opposite directions, though I could feel he wasn't as broody as he looked before. I looked back to see his friends from the general course were saying he was absolutely impressive. I could even hear that some pro heroes would have liked to have him. Knowing that this match wasn't wasted, I went back to the observation area. At least, not before bumping into Todoroki.

"It's a good thing you won your match." He said. "I don't know how we could have fought each other otherwise."

"Well, in that case, make sure not to lose if you want to fight me." I said. "But that doesn't mean I'll be rooting for you though. Iida is more my friend than you are. However, I do believe that your chances of winning are higher."

He didn't say anything, instead walking away. I did too, and when I reached the area, somebody jumped on me. I immediately knew it was Kate, because who else would do this?

"Aojikan! Great job!" She yelled, not wanting to get off.

"Ouch my head… Could you please get off of me?" I said, remembering my headache.

"Oh, of course." She said, grinning.

"Good job on winning the first match, Aojikan!" Deku said, notebook in hand. "I must admit that I'm quite confused on what happened, and how you won."

"Yeah, good job Aojikan!" Ochaco said as she arrived.

"Did you save a place for me? 'Cause the ground ain't the best place to talk about this, you know." I said as Kate blushed and turned around.

"We did! Follow me." Ochaco said.

Once I was seated, I started explaining how I had won to Deku, and my basic understanding of what had happened. I did tell him that he would have a more coherent story if he asked Shinso rather than me, but he said he would do this later.

"Hey guys! Our second match is about to begin!" Present Mic yelled, making my headache even worse. "His speed is the best of all the hero course! But why is he so rigid? It's Tenya Iida!"

"Wow, they already got there. I didn't realise we had been talking for this long." I said to Izuku, and he nodded.

"Yeah, go Iida! You can do it!" Ochaco yelled.

"Versus – Taking second, then first in the prelims! You're way too strong, kid! He wasn't recommended for admission for nothing! It's Shoto Todoroki!" Present Mic said.

The boy looked like he was not in a good mood. It was hard to tell from so far, but I could see his face was tilted downwards. Did our little conversation annoy him? It didn't look like it, so what had happened?

"And now, for the second match of the finals – Ready… Start!"

The match begun, Iida racing towards Todoroki to gain the early advantage. He managed to kick him, but it didn't have much effect as Todoroki just made a giant ice spike appear with his quirk.

Now, when I'm telling you what happen, I generally try to give as much information as I did have in the situation. But I must say, this is the only moment where I've had as much information as if I had been fighting. And by this I mean that the ice spike literally extended right in front of me.

Deku, Kate and Ochaco had also almost been caught in the ice, so we all blew a sigh a relief at the same time. Meanwhile, Iida was trapped in the ice, with Midnight asking him if he could move. Before he could say anything, I took advantage of the ice spike to transmit a message with my dying will flames.

_Don't give up, Iida! Defeat him with your dying will! _

I couldn't see him, but I heard the ice breaking, and I could feel lightning flames pulsing through the ice as it melted. I could finally see Iida, and he told Midnight that he still was able to move.

Todoroki looked extremely surprised, and Iida took advantage of that to give him a kick in the stomach. Unfortunately for him, the heterochromatic-haired boy had an incredible reaction time. Iida was sent flying out of the boundaries by a sudden ice spike, and he couldn't get back to the arena.

With this, Todoroki won the match and moved on to round 2, to fight against me. The next match was delayed, as the big ice spike had to be melted off. Kate was next up, and she was fighting Kaminari, her teammate in the last round. The guy looked terrified, so I told him that Kate wouldn't hurt him badly.

"I know, but she's gonna win anyway, so what can I do?" He asked.

"Fair point, your quirk doesn't seem like it would be too effective." I answered, and he looked very sad. "But I'm sure you can beat her with the correct plan. But I can't help you with it. She's gonna kill me if I do. So, good luck!"

"Good luck Kaminari!" Kirishima said.

"Why do I feel like this won't make any difference?" He asked as he left.

"Aojikan, could you come please?" Kate asked, looking a bit stressed.

"Ah, sure."

I followed her in the waiting room, but she didn't say anything. There was a moment of silence, and then she hugged me. Out of nowhere. Once more, I could only hope this wouldn't become a habit.

"Paul, I've felt a… presence during this tournament." She said.

"What kind of presence? Like, someone observing us through a quirk?" I asked.

"Not a quirk, more like… Magic. Not any kind of magic, the one that you called 'Order magic', I think?"

"No way… Do you think the general is making his move?" I asked, not wanting that guy to be back.

"Maybe… It's possible it's because you've used your quirk too much." She said, shaking slightly. "What if he attacks the school again? And what if innocents are caught in the crossfire? What if… What if our identities were revealed?"

There was a moment of silence before I answered. "I don't know what we'll do in these hypothetical situations, Kate. But I think it's best not to worry. Besides, aren't we good enough to push him back if he does come?"

"I guess so. Thanks, Paul."

"You're welcome. Now go fight against the electrical dude."

"You're not hoping he wins just because he's lightning element, are you?" She asked, grinning.

"Oh please, it's hardly fair. You've got a combined element while he only has a basic one." I said, shaking my head. "And he doesn't look he's the type to create a strategy that would completely defeat you. Oh well, I'll be rooting for you anyway. Go ahead and do your thing."

"Thanks!" She whispered as she kissed me on the cheek.

She then left for the arena, and I went back to the seats. Present Mic was already yelling that the wait was finally over, and I was quite surprised that they had melted it off so quickly. The "it is UA after all" excuse seemed like it wasn't enough in this situation.

Deku was being interviewed by Mina, Tooru, Tsuyu and Jiro about his forecasts for the match. He was saying that it depended on whether Ibara's defence was stronger than Kaminari's offence. When they saw me, they immediately turned their attention to me.

"Who do you think is going to win, Aojikan?" Mina asked.

"I think Ibara's going to win. I agree with Deku that it depends on Ibara's defence and Kaminari's offence, but the prelims proved that she has the better defence." I said. "She did manage to conduct his electricity without pain."

"Are you saying that because you're in love with her?" Mina continued, smirking.

"No, I truly believe that she has the advantage here. Now of course, I'm rooting for her, but if she was in a losing position I would say it too. Then again, Kaminari might surprise us, but it doesn't look like he will."

Mina was about to continue to tease me, but Present Mic interrupted her.

"Thank you for waiting, public! We will now continue with the next fight! On one side, the assassin from class 1-A! Pretty things can have thorns too, you know! It's Ibara Shiozaki!

"On the other side, Sparking Killing Boy! From class 1-A, Denki Kaminari! Now, we'll have a super flashy battle this time too-"

"Um… Excuse-me for the interruption." Kate said. "The word 'assassin' seems a bit extreme. After all, the true victory resides in not taking the opponent's life. So, I don't know if we have the time to redo my introduction, but if you can I would prefer it."

Around me, Deku, Ochaco and Iida were quite shocked, and looked at me for answers. I just told them that there was a reason we were together – namely, our love of speeches and spectacles. We just clicked together when we met.

"I-I'm sorry!" Present Mic said. "We don't have the time unfortunately, so let the match begin!"

Midnight made the sign to start, and I could see Kaminari surrounding himself with electricity. Look like this match would be over in a flash.

* * *

**A.N.: **Hi guys! I can't believe I managed to put three fights in one chapter! Well, then again, I guess it's more like 2 matches. Todoroki's match was going to be over quickly anyway, so that wasn't going to change. Even with Iida's added mobility and resilience thanks to his dying will flame training, Todoroki's ability to do ice spikes the size of a stadium still wins eventually. But anyway, I'll be seeing you next week for a new chapter!

_"I HAVE BATTLE!"_


	15. Vines and electricity

**Chapter 15: ****Vines and electricity**

"You might be powerful, but there's no way you'll resist this!" Kaminari yelled, electricity swirling around him. "Indiscriminate shock… 1.3 million volts!"

I face-palmed as I heard him, "Oh for goodness sake, why is he doing this! Is he suicidal or something?"

The girls around me had surprised look on their face, not quite understanding the problem. Deku was surprised too, but not for the same reason.

"Aojikan, you can't possibly mean that-"

"Yes, she can tank this, Deku. There's no way that's even going to make her flinch." I said, knowing this match was over.

"But, didn't you say that Kaminari could win this match?" Mina asked.

"I said he could if he had a plan. He could still win though. If this is a bluff, then there is a possibility that he can win." I answered. "It doesn't seem likely though. And Ibara has at least ten different ways of winning this fight now." I sighed deeply, being quite disappointed in Kaminari's 'plan'.

As he fired off his electricity, Kate detached the vines from her head to protect herself from the electricity. I was about to say this match was over, when Kaminari jumped on the vines, bleeding on them, and spreading the electricity over to Kate.

He surprised me even more when he stopped his electricity, because he still had his brainpower. The guy had managed to bluff Kate and slow her down, and he only had minor injuries.

"Well, that's surprising." I said.

"So, who is winning right now?" Tsuyu asked.

"Hard to tell. The problem is that Ibara seems slowed down, but not completely immobilized. Meanwhile, Kaminari is still standing, but he sacrificed a lot of resources to do this. It comes down to who can capitalize on the other's weakness first to either a) push them off the ring or b) immobilize them completely."

While Kaminari's arms and torso were bleeding a bit, Kate didn't look much better. The shock hadn't completely stopped her, but it looked like Kaminari's electricity was a lot more powerful than I thought it was. I had been tricked by the fact he could tank it, but it made sense that his brain cells would be more resilient with a quirk like this. A sort of free protection given by his quirk.

Kate wasn't struggling as much as Kaminari was expecting though, as she was able to detach her vines once more to attack him. Kaminari tried to dodge to the best of his ability, but he was held down by his injuries. Kate's attacks weren't that fast though, so he wasn't hurt that much.

The match should have been over, but it had turned into a war of attrition the moment Kaminari decided to use his blood to conduct his quirk. Neither of the two heroes-in-training could attack the other without the risk of becoming vulnerable, so they just turned in circles around the centre of the arena, glaring at each other.

This went on for a minute or so, until Kate was sick of waiting, and attacked with her vines once more. Kaminari didn't even try to dodge, instead trying to close the gap between him and the vine user. However, it turned out that was exactly what Kate was expecting, and she rapidly attacked with the vines on her head, that had suddenly grown large enough.

Deku gasped as he realised that Kate was using sun flames, while Iida and Ochaco felt like something was out of place. Deku silently asked me if it was alright that we us our flames like that in the open.

"You are not allowed to do that for the moment, Izuku." I answered silently. "However, once you'll be able to use your flames sneakily enough that nobody can see them, then the answer will be positive."

He nodded, and I watched with amusement as Kaminari couldn't do anything to dodge or block the vines. Kate still wasn't at peak performance, but using sun flames had made her a lot more energetic than Kaminari could hope to be.

She finished him off by using the vines that had served as a distraction to grab him in the air. He said that he couldn't move any more, and Midnight declared Kate the victor. Kaminari was immediately brought to Recovery Girl as he was bleeding quite a bit.

Meanwhile, Deku had to go away as he was next up against Sero. He looked stressed, so I decided to ask him if he was alright.

"Hey, Deku, you alright man? You look like you're going to face All Might or something." I said, patting him on the back.

"I'm a bit stressed… All Might put a lot of pressure on me before the tournament, and I'm not sure I can live up to his expectations." He answered.

"I don't think anybody is able to produce more nonsense than you! Are you kidding me? All Might's got high expectations of you because you are talented! I believe that you can do it. I'm sure you already discarded 7 plans because 'they aren't going to work', but honestly you're worrying too much. Calm down, focus on one plan while leaving room open for others, and win this fight, so we can meet in the quarter-finals!"

"Yes, I won't disappoint you!" He said, seemingly not stressed any more.

"That's more like it! Now go out there or you'll be late for your fight." I said, ushering him to go. "The lengths that I have to go to make him realise how talented he is… I wasn't prepared for this!"

"Don't you like doing it though?" Kate asked, coming out of nowhere.

"Oh, of course I do. I want to see what he's like at his full potential." I said, looking towards the arena. "By the way, are you fine? Kaminari shocked you pretty badly. I'm surprised that you could even move like this."

"Yes, I'm fine. It isn't the worst I've been through, though it's been a long time that I had such a hard fight." She said, sighing. "Anything you saw during my fight?"

"No, Edward isn't back yet, but he told me that he couldn't see anything out of place." I whispered. "Oh, the fight is about to begin."

Izuku and Sero were walking towards the arena, while Present Mic was introducing them, "On one side, will he ever stop climbing? He managed to score third in the race, first in the cavalry battle, and I hear that he has been first of his class for a very long time! It's Izuku Midoriya from class 1-A!

"Also from class 1-A, how can he be so plain? We haven't seen him a lot, but don't underestimate him! He did score third in the cavalry battle! It's Hanta Sero!" The crowd cheered on as Present Mic stopped talking.

"Are you ready?" Midnight asked, and the two boys nodded. "Then let the fight begin!"

"Don't think you'll win easily just because you're the top student!" Sero said, trying to wrap Izuku in his duck tape.

The green-haired boy tried his best to dodge, but he ended up entangled in one of the tapes. However, he didn't seem surprised at all, and he easily broke out of it with what I assumed was One for All at 10%. Sero was very surprised, and Izuku took advantage of that to flank him, then kick him in the side.

Sero was barely able to produce enough tape to reduce the impact of the hit, but he was still sent flying away. Izuku didn't follow up immediately, instead starting to run around him using One for All. It almost made it seem as if there were multiple clones of him, but I could see through it.

However, Sero wasn't used to this kind of speed, and he looked quite confused by what was happening. He used his quirk once more to try and wrap Izuku, but Deku was simply too fast for him, and he attacked him while he was sending his tape, knocking him off the stage.

Izuku was declared the victor, and he moved on to the next round. The next match was Mina vs. Aoyama, and as the pink girl left, she tried to get me to help her.

"Hey, Aojikan! Would you mind helping me? Like, giving me a plan so I can win this match?" She asked with sad puppy eyes.

"Ah, I see that you are a master of the sad puppy eyes technique. Unfortunately for you, the only person that can use it on me reliably is Ibara, so it won't work for you." I said, shaking my head. "To be serious though, you don't need my help to win this match. I'm sure you can come up with a successful plan."

"Oh, man, I put some effort in it too… You're really mean!" She said, pouting as she left.

"You're very nice as well!" I said. "Why does everybody think that I'll give them advice? For goodness sake, it's your match, not mine! You're the one who's supposed to come up with a strategy."

"Who do you think is going to win though, ribbit?" Tsuyu croaked, really surprising me.

"Oh my goodness! I had not seen you, oh boy. At least tell people you're here! You're going to make an accident if you continue like this." I said, and I could hear Kate and Ochaco trying not to giggle. "Stop laughing you two. It's bad enough that I have been scared for life, don't mock me as well. Deku, please answer, I need to stay alone for a while."

I moved towards the seat in the back, deciding that I would go back when the match started. I asked Edward to come back, so that I could check on what he had discovered for the moment. He didn't make me wait, appearing almost instantly.

"Any signs of the general or other villains from his order?" I asked, whispering.

"No, I haven't seen anything for the moment. I tried almost all of the techniques we have at our disposition, but nothing seems to be out of place." He said, sighing. "And as you said, if he were here, we would see him immediately. He distorts time around him as you do, because of the fact that you are from another timeline."

"That's a shame, but at the same time, I don't think I'm ready to face him off yet." I said, relieved. "Can you tell Kate? I don't want to risk someone overhearing our conversation."

"Yes, of course." He moved towards her, and whispered the information.

I came back to my previous spot, as the match was about to begin. Kate smiled at me, and I could see she was relieved. Present Mic started to present everyone once more, and I barely listened to what was being said. It was starting to get repetitive, and it's not like it would give me any new information on who the fighters were.

Mina started the match by dashing through her acid around Aoyama – no idea how that was any faster than running, but apparently quirks don't work the same way. Aoyama tried to attack her with his laser, and it became painfully obvious that he wasn't going to be able to do anything.

Mina spun around him some more, landed some hits on him, and eventually she finished him off with a kick after he had used his laser to dodge her acid. She moved on to the next round, and, like usually, the crowd broke into cheers – which was really starting to get on my nerves!

Yaoyorozu and Tokoyami's match was up next, and thankfully, none of them came to me for questions. When Tsuyu asked who I thought was going to win, I simply told her it depended on whether Momo was able to come up with the right tools to defeat Dark Shadow, or whether Tokoyami could just manage to brute force through his match.

I knew for a fact what his weakness was, but I was not going to tell it when there were people who would fight him that could listen in. His shadow was in fact more powerful the darker it was, but it became uncontrollable in the night. If Momo had known this, she could have made a lamp torch and the match was over. However, she didn't know yet, which meant that this was going to be difficult.

They walked onto the ring, and when Midnight gave the signal, the battle begun. Yaoyorozu instantly began by putting some distance between her and Tokoyami. Her first creation was a net-firing cannon, that was supposed to reduce the movement options of Tokoyami. The boy was standing in a ready position, Dark Shadow at his side.

Without any warning, Momo fired the cannon, the net starting to wrap around Tokoyami. While Dark Shadow was cutting through the net, Yaoyorozu prepared her next creation, a small stun gun. At this point, the fight was going to be over very soon. Either Tokoyami managed to stop her from using the stun gun and throw her out of the arena with his quirk, or Momo managed to land the stun gun, incapacitating Tokoyami in the process.

It seemed option A was more likely though, as when Tokoyami saw the stun gun, he told Dark Shadow to quickly dispose of the net so they could close the gap with Yaoyorozu. However, the girl had prepared a security baton to knock them back out of range in case they came to close. The two students walked in circles for a while, not wanting to take any unnecessary risks.

Eventually though, Tokoyami jumped towards Momo after disabling Dark Shadow. The girl tried to react by firing the stun gun, but the shadow was simply to fast for her when Tokoyami re-enabled it. This gave plenty of time to Tokoyami, and he managed to punch her out of the arena. He was declared the victor, and he helped Momo back to her feet.

The next match was announced, being Kirishima vs. Tetsutetsu. I was not looking forward to it at all, considering how _boring _it would be. Kate looked at me with pleading eyes, and I simply told her that there was nothing we could do.

"Are you alright, Aojikan?" Jiro asked, looking concerned.

"Oh, yes, I'm quite alright. It's just that I think this match is going to be very boring, so I'm not looking forward to watching it." I said.

"So who do you think is going to win?" Mina asked.

"I have no idea. It depends on who's quirk can last longer, or who's quirk is stronger. However, I have already seen them clashing at the canteen, and it looks like their quirks are of similar strength."

"What about the durability then?" Deku asked.

"That's the problem, I have no idea who's quirk is more durable." I said, shaking my head. "I've tried to make hypothesis based on the strength of the natural elements, but the last match has made it clear that you can't base a quirk's potential based on the natural thing that it's based on."*

"What do you mean, ribbit?" Tsuyu croaked, but this time I was expecting her.

"When I saw that Mina could surf on her acid to go faster than running, I abandoned the idea of conventional physics to describe quirks." I said, glaring at the pink girl. "So, to summarize what I just said, I have no idea who wins here. The only thing that I do know, is that this match is going to be BORING!"

Everyone nodded silently, but they didn't look convinced. It wasn't my fault if they didn't realise how boring it was going to be. Deku did seem genuinely concerned, as well as Kate and Ochaco.

Present Mic did his usual speech, but I didn't even bother listening. I would tell you how the match went, but to be honest, I only watched the beginning and the end, which were strikingly similar.

Kirishima was trying to push Tetsutetsu out of the field, and vice-versa. This went on for 30 seconds before I decided to talk with Kate about other possible match ups that would have been more interesting. She told me to stop talking and let her focus on the match, but by the end of it, I could tell that the last she wanted to do was to watch this boring fight.

In the end, Kirishima won, and only on a technicality. Basically, his quirk lasted longer than his opponent's quirk, so he was able to push him outside of the boundaries. They did have an arm-wrestling competition to know who actually won, but Kirishima managed to beat Tetsutetsu again. The red-haired boy was declared the victor, and the match was over.

Next up was Ochaco's match against Bakugou. As I had predicted, everyone started to tell her that they were sorry she landed against such a strong opponent, and that it was alright if she couldn't do anything. I could see Bakugou seemed quite tilted off by this, but he didn't say anything. Kate looked she didn't agree as well.

I decided to speak up for the minority, because I knew what Ochaco was really capable of, and discouraging her before the beginning of this match was only going to put her at a disadvantage.

"Excuse-me!" I said, trying to make my voice heard over Iida's. "I don't mean to interrupt you all, but I can see that I'm not the only one to disagree with what you're saying. I believe you are all underestimating Ochaco, and perhaps even overestimating Bakugou a bit." Bakugou frowned when I said that, but he didn't interrupt me. Instead, he started to leave for his match.

"But, there's no way Ochaco can beat Bakugou of all people!" Mina said, shocked by what I had said. "He has the most overpowered quirk of all the class!" I loudly coughed at this, knowing full well that some people could go well into this category if they were willing to use their quirk fully. "And Ochaco can't do anything against him."

"I guess it isn't surprising you came to me for strategies then." I said, sighing. "It looks like a majority of this class don't understand the importance of having a good plan. Having an overpowered quirk doesn't matter if you are a complete idiot and you are facing a genius with a less powerful quirk. Most of the best pro heroes don't really have the best quirks ever, or ones without weaknesses, because that doesn't exist. Instead, they are fully conscious of what their weaknesses are, and how they can work around them to win a fight."

"But, how could she use her quirk against Bakugou? There isn't much to touch apart from his body." Jiro said.

"You're only saying this because you didn't think it through. I can think of multiple ways that she could win this fight. Are they easy? Certainly not, they would take a great amount of effort, careful planning, and a great adaptability. However, I believe that Ochaco can come up with a plan like this herself, and that she has the potential to win. So stop dropping the mood, and actually encourage her like the friends that you are!"

There was a moment of silence as everyone was thinking about what I had said. Eventually, Ochaco moved towards the arena, and I gestured Izuku to go with her. Kate asked me if I was playing matchmaker, and I just said that Izuku would be better at dealing with the emotional aspect than I would be.

As Present Mic announced the match, and as the crowd cheered on, I could only hope that Ochaco would win, but I was certain that she was not going out without a fight.

* * *

**A.N.: **Thanks for reading this chapter. I hoped you enjoyed it! It looks like we still have a couple of chapters left in the tournament arc, so prepare yourself for more and more action scenes as we move on! And as I said in the beginning of the chapter, sorry for not uploading earlier! I'll try to make sure that this series stays weekly, as I believe it's a good way to segment the chapters. See you next Sunday(at least if I don't have internet problems again) for a new chapter of _The quirky adventures!_

_"Preparations have completion!"_


	16. Explosions in zero gravity

**Chapter 16: ****Explosions in zero gravity**

Midnight asked Bakugou and Ochaco if they were ready. Bakugou grunted, and Ochaco said yes. Midnight said, "Then let the match begin!"

Ochaco didn't wait any longer, and she ran towards Bakugou to attack swiftly. The blonde, as per usual, started with a right swing. Unfortunately for Ochaco, she was not able to dodge, and she was sent backwards by the explosion.

"Even though you're fighting a girl, you have no mercy, do you, Bakugou?" Tsuyu asked.

"Did you even listen to the speech I just did?" I asked to her, and to all of the others who were complaining that Bakugou had no mercy.

That silenced everyone, and I was able to focus on the match once more. A thick smokescreen was now covering the arena, and Bakugou wasn't able to see her any more. A PE uniform appeared out of nowhere, and Bakugou attacked it. However, it was only a distraction as Ochaco appeared behind him, trying to touch him.

It turned out that Bakugou's reaction time was much quicker than she had expected, and he was able to turn around just in time to blast her away. Once more, Ochaco tried to run at him, only for Bakugou to send explosions faster than she could react to.

As the fight went on, it was clear that it was going in favour of Bakugou. All the plans of Ochaco seemed to fail, mostly because of Bakugou's great reaction time, and careful thinking. The blonde did have an incredible fighting instinct, that was for sure. However, when I lifted my head to take a break from the match, I saw what would perhaps be Ochaco's only chance.

Meanwhile, the crowd was starting to boo, because they didn't see why Bakugou wasn't sending Ochaco out of bounds if there was such a huge difference in their abilities. Present Mic almost said that he agreed with them before receiving an elbow from Aizawa.

"Was that a pro saying that he's playing around?" Aizawa said, sounding pretty angry – did someone just provoke an emotion from this man? "How many years have you been a pro? If you're saying that with a straight face, there's no point in watching the match any more, so go home! Go home, and look into changing careers!"

I could see that my classmates around me were quite surprised by what Aizawa was saying, but I had a feeling of where this was going. It looked like Kate had the same feeling.

"Bakugou is being careful because he's acknowledged the strength of his opponent who has made it so far. It's because he's doing everything he can to win that he can't go easy on her or let his guard down."

"Finally, someone agrees with me! It's clear that Ochaco has a pretty good chance of winning this match. Let's hope she doesn't mess up."

"What are you talking about Aojikan?" Deku asked, not understanding what I was hinting at.

"Do you care if I explain?" Ibara asked, and I shook my head. "Ochaco has tried to make Bakugou's attack focus on the floor, creating an array of potential weapons. Meanwhile, with her constant flow of attacks, she mad Bakugou attention solely on her and nothing else. Right now, she's ready for the biggest counter-attack that has been seen in this tournament." I coughed loudly, thinking that my plan for a counter-attack had been much better.

Ochaco released her quirk, making chunks of the arena rain down on it. Bakugou, seeing this, focused his palm upwards, while Ochaco ran towards him, trying to use her quirk on him, just this time. However, Bakugou's explosion was so powerful, that not only did the rocks all disappear in one shot, but Ochaco was sent flying bakcwards. The public was also harassed by powerful wind gusts coming from the blast.

While Bakugou had showed a tremendous feat of strength, it seemed that it did have severe consequences on him, as his hand was shaking. Still covered in the smoke screen, he said "Since you're friends with Deku and the stupid time bastard, I knew that you were up to something." Ochaco got back to her feet, and Bakugou started to smile. "All right, let's get serious then, Uraraka!"

However, Ochaco tripped, and she was on the floor once more. It was clear that she had reached her limit a long time ago, and she was only powering through by determination alone. A strong force, but unfortunately, not strong enough in this timeline. I could see the blue flame dancing on her head, though it was starting to weaken as her body couldn't keep up with the fight any more.

Even in this position, she still tried to crawl towards Bakugou, but she fainted pretty quickly afterwards. As such, Bakugou was declared the victor of this match, and he moved on to round two. The first round was now over, and Present Mic announced that there would be a 15 minutes pause before the next match.

"Kate, would you like to go eat something?" I asked, wanting to talk with her alone.

"Sure. Let's go then." She answered, winking to indicate that she knew what I wanted to do.

We went through the corridors, and then we saw Ochaco with red eyes. We looked at each other, and we knew what we had to do. Kate jumped on her and hugged her very tightly, while I approached her normally.

"Ochaco sweetheart! That was so great!" Kate said, still hugging her. "You actually managed to make a plan that threw Bakugou on a loop. That's incredible!"

"I must admit that your plan was pretty good, considering the situation you were in." I said, feeling a bit embarrassed at Kate's sudden hug. "With a bit more training, there is a possibility that you could have defeated him. Not entirely certain, but definitely possible. So, fight on girl, and don't be disappointed by your loss. If anything, be happy that your plan impressed most pro heroes out there, and that they might have thought about you for an internship."

"Thanks, Aojikan, Ibara. You're too kind for me." She said as she stopped crying.

Kate stopped hugging her, and weirdly enough, Deku appeared out of nowhere at this moment. When I asked him what he was doing here, he told me that he wanted to got to the toilet, but he had met Bakugou on the way.

"I'm surprised you even survived this encounter. Does he think that we gave the plan to Ochaco?" I asked, curious.

"He did. I convinced that it wasn't you or me, but just Ochaco." He answered. "It seems like he still isn't certain though. Especially about you."

"Okay, I'll keep this in mind. Oh, by the way, Deku," I dropped my voice to a whisper so Ochaco couldn't hear, "Ochaco over there needs some comforting. So, you know, I feel like it's more appropriate that you do it rather than me."

"You sure?" He whispered back.

"Absolutely certain, you can do a much better job than Kate and I can."

"If you insist… How should I go around it though?" He asked, still whispering.

"Go eat something together. I hope you haven't forgotten what she absolutely loves?"

"Of course not. Thanks Aojikan."

Deku went to see Ochaco, asked if she wanted to grab a bite, and with this, they left. We went inside the waiting room, to have a little more privacy. Just in case, I sent Edward to go in front of the door, to see if there were any intruders.

"Sorry that this had to wait for so long, but I finally managed to create your module based on your hero costume." I said, taking out a box out of the lockers.

"What about module E? Can't you recreate that too?" Kate asked.

"No way. I don't have enough expertise to do it. While I have seen the plans for your module S, module E is too complex to reproduce like this." I said, shaking my head. "It's because it's a mix of technology and magic that it is so difficult. Were I stronger, or had I more knowledge, it would be easier. But it requires more training from a source that isn't easily obtained."

"Which is…?"

"The original Paul himself." I said, and Kate gasped.

"The original Paul? The one who created most of the technologies and spells we use to this day?" She asked, surprised.

"Yes, he's the one who created the module E. If the books that I have read are correct, module E was intended to be a tool to make Paul's apprentices learn the 'Paul fighting style' faster that what would normally be required. This made the module very hard on its user's body. So hard in fact, that the original Paul implemented a safety switch that would always be on, except if the user knew how to dis-activate it. But anyway, that shows the complexity of this thing."

"Wow, I did not know you knew this much about the original Paul." She said.

"I'm only scratching the limit here. There are so many things that I still don't know about him." I said. "Anyway, you're free to use this module as you wish. Take this as a long overdue gift to you."

"Aw, thanks Paul." She said, blushing. "That's so nice of you."

"You're welcome." I said, feeling my cheeks heat as well. "If you don't mind, I think my match is approaching, and I'm sure you don't want my strategy to be spoiled."

"Of course. I'll be seeing you later then." She said, hesitating at the doorstep. "Just one thing before I leave."

She came back to me and kissed me. Once she had, she dashed out in the corridors. I did thank her, but I'm not sure she heard. My match was coming up in about 8 minutes, so I started to prepare my plan.

Todoroki was an interesting opponent, because I didn't intend to win against him until he used his flames. Until he did it, I would not abandon, nor would I send him out of bounds. There was a possibility that I may lose if he used his quirk fully, but I wasn't going to let him win without him giving his all.

As I was finishing my plan, Present Mic started to talk again. Oh well, I had done the most important part, I could improvise the rest. He announced that the pause was over, and said that the fighters were invited to come on the arena.

I headed towards the arena, still thinking about what Todoroki had told us over the lunch break. I knew that his father wasn't probably the best one ever, but there was certainly another reason for him not to use his flames. I could feel like there was trauma behind that. No idea what it was though.

As I walked towards the arena, I could see Todoroki was approaching on the other side. We both climbed the stairs, and faced each other. He glanced at me, not showing any emotions, a bit like Aizawa. Though I must say that he did look less tired. I must say that he was… cold. Pun definitely intended, but at the same time it was true. It looked like his quirk was rubbing off on him, which meant that if I could get him to use his flames, maybe he could radiate a bit more of human heat – and actual heat.

"Are you two ready?" Midnight asked.

"Yes," I said, pointing at Todoroki, "I'm ready to make you use your quirk fully." Todoroki didn't answer, instead only nodding, though he started glaring at me.

"Then let the match begin!" She said.

This would be it. The match where I would either convince Todoroki to use his flames, or the match that I would lose. And since I don't like losing, that left me with a single option.

* * *

**A.N.: **I finished the chapter in time. Hooray. I didn't want to start the match right now – mostly because of time problems – but also because I feel like this match deserves its own chapter. Maybe it won't be that long in the end, I haven't planned how it will go exactly for the moment. Oh well, I'm sure it will end up fine. Anyway, I'll be seeing you next week for a new chapter of the _Quirky Adventures! _Have a nice week!

_"It is the time! The Heavyweight Cage War of All Destruction!"_


	17. Todoroki 2: Electric Boogaloo

**Chapter 17: ****Todoroki 2: Electric Boogaloo**

The crowd cheered on as we stepped on the arena. I looked at Shoto, and he didn't seem any different from usual. He looked back, not saying anything.

"I'll prove that your fire isn't your dad's quirk, but just your own." I said, determined. "Mark my words, by the end of this fight, you will have used your flames."

He only grunted in response, as if I was trying to fulfil an impossible mission. Present Mic spoke up again, "Throughout this sport festival, both have shown incredible performances! Aojikan! VS Todoroki! It's like two rivals fighting against each other! Now- Start!"

The moment we began was the most important moment in this fight. Todoroki put his right feet forward, and started with a wave of ice. I prepared my quirk, and as soon as the ice was upon me, I used to dodge and ride on it. The problem that I had realised while brainstorming was coming full force: Todoroki controlled the size and shape of the battlefield, putting me at a huge disadvantage.

However, until he started to use his flames, he could not get rid of any of the ice laying around us. This meant that in order to win, I should bait all of his attacks in angles that would create a wall around himself. Then, I could break through at a single point, knock him out with the force of the surprise attack, and I would win. But if he did want to win, he would have to burn off some of the ice surrounding him, allowing him to have an attack that I could difficultly counter.

To summarize, this whole plan was created so that he would not be able to win if he didn't use his flames. Since he wasn't completely idiot though, it required to be very subtle, and to have perfect execution.

Anyway, I jumped over the ice, and started to slide on it. Turns out it was actually harder than I thought it would be. It looked like Todoroki spent a lot of time training on that skill. Either this or his quirk helped him get a better grip, I didn't know, but thanks to my quirk, I was able to not completely fall off. Slowing down time does help a lot in making precise moves.

I stopped using my quirk almost instantly though, as ever since the seal was on me, I was limited to about 1 second maximum of time slowed-down. This made my situation on the ice quite precarious, and Todoroki was aware of that as he sent another wave of ice that reached even higher.

I was able to dodge, but I'm not completely sure of how I did it. I kept sliding on the ice until I was about 3 metres away from Mr. Half-hot Half-cold. I jumped off the ice, used my quirk to close the gap between the two of us, and I was barely able to kick him in the stomach.

He wasn't sent flying backwards as he had created a small wall of ice just behind him. However, that meant that he bounced back towards me, letting me do a small punch-kick combo. It wasn't much, but he started to breathe heavily afterwards. He sent me flying with a wave of ice, but I had been holding back on my quirk for this precise moment. When the ice appeared, I let it push me back a bit before using my quirk and climbing on it.

I ran towards Todoroki, and tried to give him a kick in the head. However, time had resumed its normal course, so Todoroki was able to create ice at the right moment. It hurt my feet quite a lot, and I was sent flying backwards. I managed to stop myself right before the edges of the arena, though it was a close call.

"Well, I never thought I would ever say this, but I guess ice can pack a punch." I said, breathing heavily.

Todoroki didn't say anything, though I could see that he was starting to get covered in ice due to overuse of his quirk. This was plan B, though I had decided not to rely too much on it. Even if Todoroki would slowly get weaker over the course of the fight if he didn't use his flames, he could probably finish me in one hit before I could even exploit this weakness. It was too unreliable.

I ran back towards Todoroki, and he made an ice wave go towards. I did what I call a 'side-step'. Using my quirk, I quickly walked to the right, dodging easily. I went to the right since the left was already occupied by too many ice spikes, but Todoroki knew this too. As such, he also had sneakily sent an attack to the right. When I realised it was coming for me, it was already too late, and I was sent flying in the air once more.

Thank goodness, Todoroki had sent such a powerful attack that the ice spike followed me all the way to the wall. As such, I technically didn't land on the ground around the arena, and the fight could go on.

I didn't know why Todoroki had sent his ice spike so far away, but one quick glance at him told me what the problem was: he was exhausted, and that exhaustion cost him his precision and his control over his quirk. However, I knew that the only reason he was this exhausted was because he was probably losing his mind over how cold it was.

"Hey Todoroki, I see at least two moments where you could have won this fight were you using your flames." I said, panting. "You won't be able to win this fight without using them. This fight will remain a draw until you do."

"I will win without using his power!" Todoroki answered, sending another wave of ice.

"What can I do to convince you that this isn't his power, but yours?" I said, moving around Todoroki while dodging the ice wave.

He didn't answer this time, instead running towards me to try and end the match quickly. He knew for a fact that in a match of endurance, he was going to lose eventually if he didn't use his flames. However, closing the distance between the two of us was probably one of the worst ideas that he could have had.

Using my quirk, I dodged the many ice spikes coming towards me, and quickly turned around him. I kicked him in the back, which sent him to the edge of the arena. Unfortunately, he protected himself with his ice at the last moment, stopping him from falling off.

"You know, Todoroki, it's really not fair that while everyone is trying their best to be #1, you only use half of your strength." I said. "You know what? I don't care any more. I'll prove to you that you can't win this fight without using your whole quirk. I'm going to unlock the full potential of my quirk! It's going to put me in danger, but until you start using your quirk fully, I won't surrender!"

I slowly broke the seal while Edward was asking if I really wanted to do that. I nodded as I fully broke the seal, and charged towards Todoroki. All of his attacks were in slow-motion to me. I was able to use my quirk for up to 3 seconds constantly, making it impossible for him to land any hit on me. Meanwhile, he couldn't do much about my attacks being so quick.

"What's this? Aojikan charges into Todoroki so fast that he can't react!" Present Mic said. "It looks like he's tired of this boring match and has decided to end it now!"

"Come on Todoroki! I know you want to win this!" I said, as I punched him into the air and slammed him back on the ground. "Just use your flames! Right now, you're the one screwing around. You say you want to win this sport festival without using your Dad's power to spite him, but can you really say that's the mature decision to make?"

"Shut up…" He said, trying to use his ice, but I punched him before he could.

"It's true that you inherited your quirk from your father. But does it mean that you have to be like him to use it? Absolutely not! What's important is not where the quirk came from, but how you use it! I have no idea how my quirk came to be so much more powerful than my parents' quirk, but I don't care. As long as it can be used for good, I will use it!"

Todoroki suddenly changed the way he was looking at me. A moment later, a pillar of flames was coming out of him, melting all the ice around us. We were back in a central position, but even the ice that almost collided with the public was melted quickly.

"To help your enemy… Who's the one screwing around now?" Todoroki said.

"You might be right here, but I don't care!" I said, suddenly having a headache. I realised that I wouldn't be able to stay out of the seal for much longer. "Looks like I'm already feeling the consequences of my choice… Let's finish this quickly!"

"Don't blame me for what happens next!" He said, preparing his strongest ice attack yet.

While this was happening, I could hear that Endeavour was starting to talk about how Shoto was going to fulfil his role, or whatever crazy plans he had for his son. I didn't pay attention to it, because letting Shoto attack me would be game over for me.

The ice attacks that Todoroki sent were much stronger, and I almost wasn't ready for it, but good usage of my quirk saved me. I could see that he was starting to prepare a huge blast of fire, so I completely gave in to Distemporality to see what was the best strategy. I saw that all of my 'clones' were running in the same direction, straight towards Todoroki. I realised that it didn't matter how I tried to dodge, since I was going to get fried anyway.

Knowing this full well, I kept running towards him, and when I was about 5 metres away from him, I slowed down time, and jumped towards him. He started to fire off his blast in slow-motion, but it still hit me because of the power of the attack. I decided it wasn't worth holding back at this point, so I used my lighting flames to protect from the impact.

At the end of my jump, my quirk stopped, and I gave Todoroki the mightiest kick I had ever given someone. He was sent flying backwards, but I knew that he might use his ice to stop him from hitting the ground. So just to make sure, I ran up to him, used my quirk, jumped, and punched him towards the ground.

"Todoroki is out of bounds. Aojikan moves on to the third round!" Midnight said.

"I-I did it." I said, collapsing because of the headache.

Before I completely lost consciousness, I heard the crowd losing its mind over what had just happened. Somebody lifted me up, and I could feel that… vines were wrapping around me.

When I woke up, I saw a familiar white ceiling and greenish sheets. I was in the infirmary again. I could feel the seal closed once more, and I didn't have a headache any more. Kate was sitting on a chair besides my bed, and I saw her face lighten up.

"Paul! You're actually alive!" She said, hugging me.

"Calm down, would you?" I said, suddenly feeling cramped. "I guess we're only with people who know. Or is there nobody nearby?"

"There is!" Recovery Girl said, and I knew it was going to be bad for me. "You keep getting injured, don't you? I don't even know how you survive this. A normal human wouldn't have survived. I know you come from another world or something like that, but this still surprises me."

"Sorry, Recovery Girl." I said, scratching the back of my head. "I tend to get tunnel-vision when I want to save someone, to the point where I almost sacrifice my life for it. Is Todoroki fine by the way?"

"Of course he is! He didn't overuse his quirk like you just did." She answered, shaking her head. "I guess you did do something right though."

"Does it have to do with the fact he was using one side too much?"

"Yes, if he had not used his flames, he would not be anything more than an ice cube right now." She sighed. "He is exhausted, but still alive. So I guess you could say that you saved him."

"I'll pay more attention not to die next time." I said, smiling.

"You better pay more attention! Last time you said that too, and where are we now?" She said.

"Third time's the charm?"

"Paul, you're only making this worse, you know?" Kate said.

"I guess I am." I said. "By the way, isn't your match next up?"

"It is, but they need to clean the arena first. Todoroki made quite the mess with his big fire blast." She said.

"Aojikan, I hope I'm not going to see you again before the end of this sport festival, but good luck anyway." Recovery Girl said. "You're free to go watch your girlfriend's match with your friend. Your body is still recovering, but I trust that you won't do anything stupid before your match."

"Thank you again, Recovery Girl." I said, bowing my head.

We left the infirmary, holding hands. Kate went to the waiting room while I kept climbing the stairs. I didn't pay attention to my surroundings and bumped into someone.

"Oh sorry, sir, I didn't mean to bump into you." I said, and then I realised that I really didn't want to talk with this person right now.

"No problem." Endeavour said as he checked who I was. "Wait a minute… Are you Wadokei Aojikan?"

'_Why did I have to meet this guy right now?' _I thought. "Yes sir, that's me. Oh, the match is about to begin! Sorry sir, I don't have much time to talk, I really want to see how this match will play out. Good bye!"

I started to climb the stairs again, not looking back. _I hope I didn't sound to suspicious back there… Oh well. _When I got to the seats, everybody asked me if I was alright, if I wasn't injured, things like that.

"Aojikan, are you sure you're alright?" Todoroki asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. So stop asking the question!" I said, kind of irritated by the same question being asked over and over again. "You're the last person I would have expected to ask this question, Todoroki."

"Really?" He said. "On another note, I would like to thank you."

"You're welcome, I guess?" I said, not sure what he was talking about. "Could you elaborate?"

"I had never used my flames in such a long time… And you made me realise that the reason I had for it was kind of stupid. Not that I don't think my father is a horrible person, he still is. But at least I know that these flames are mine, not his, so I won't hesitate to use them any more."

"That's great!" I said, happy that I had completely succeeded. "You are finally giving everything you've got now. I'm really happy for you."

"Thank you, Aojikan." He repeated, going back to his seat.

"What was this all about?" Mina asked, curious to a fault.

"We… talked a lot during the fight. And I convinced him to use his flames." I said. "By the way, if you want me to tell you who wins the next fight, I'm not sure. The two of them are quite powerful, but the most important thing is that they are smart. Whoever has the best plan will succeed. I will root for Ibara though."

"I knew it!" Mina said.

Before anyone else could speak up, Present Mic announced that the arena had been cleaned, and that the next match would begin right now. It was certainly going to be interesting, and I was going to miss anything.

* * *

**A.N.: **Well, I hope you liked this fight! I tried to make it kind of similar to cannon, with the difference that Aojikan is a lot more blunt about what he wants Todoroki to realise. The next match will be very interesting, because these two have been training together and with Aojikan.

I'm beginning to think about writing a league of legends fan fiction more and more, so tell me if you would be interested. Anyway, I'll see you next week with a new chapter of _The quirky adventures!_

_"I have such strategy! And now for the leaving."_


	18. Vines vs big muscles

**Chapter 18: ****Vines vs big muscles**

The arena was finally clean, so Ibara and Izuku could step forwards. Midnight asked if they were ready, and they were, so the match started.

At first, neither of them moved. They just prepared their quirks and stared at their opponent. They kept waiting like this for a while, until Izuku jumped forwards with such speed that he couldn't be seen by human eyes. If this had been anyone else, they wouldn't have been able to react, and the match would be over.

However, Kate was used to fight at this kind of speed, and reacted almost as fast in creating a wall of vines that blocked Izuku. I could see that she was boosting them with sun flames, explaining how she could have stopped him.

Kate grabbed Izuku in her vines, intending to throw him off of the arena, but Izuku managed to break the grip around him. He tried to attack her on the side, but she could see it coming, so she blocked him once more. This time however, Izuku broke the wall and tried to attack her using some of the combos that I had taught him.

Kate knew these combos, so she was able to retaliate. It wasn't easy though, as Izuku was going much faster than her. I thought that he would be around 15% of OFA at the moment.

The fight continued like this for 5 minutes, Izuku trying to land his hits, and Kate trying to make him trip over her vines. Eventually, Izuku put some distance between him and Kate. Both of them were exhausted, and they were near the limit of their quirks. The next attack would be decisive.

Izuku readied his quirk, this time being somewhere around 25%. I knew that he could control his quirk to this extent, but I had heard him saying that it put some extra stress on his body. Recovery Girl was going to be absolutely furious by the end of the day, the way it was going.

Meanwhile, Kate prepared her vines. The sun flames were now a lot more visible, and I could see a hint of cloud flames. I gulped, thinking about what was about to happen. Izuku himself was surrounded by sun flames, and I could see a small sky flame dancing on his forehead. The next attack would be decisive, but also very dangerous for the two of them.

Izuku charged in, breaking through Kate's vine wall once more. However, Kate was nowhere to be found behind this wall. Instead, all that Izuku could see was a massive creature made of vines that ate him. Ibara was on the other side, trying to push him off the arena, while Izuku was punching in the other direction.

Izuku could see that the creature was regenerating faster than he could harm it. He was able to affect it a bit, but that would only retard his defeat. When I saw some of the vines turning into stones, I knew Izuku was giving his all. He broke through the vine monster, and through sheer willpower, he had enough energy to punch Ibara out of the stage.

She tried using her vines to pull herself back to the stage, but Izuku's punch was simply too strong, and it sent her flying too fast. She hit the wall and lost consciousness, while Izuku was struggling to stand.

"Ibara is out of bounds… Izuku wins the match and moves on to the next round!" Midnight announced, and the crowd cheered.

Kate and Deku were taken on beds towards the infirmary. I wanted to check on them, but at the same time I didn't want to miss on the next matches.

"Hey, Tsuyu." I said, "Would you mind telling me about the Tokoyami's match after I come back? I want to check on Izuku and Ibara."

"Sure, Aojikan, ribbit." She said.

"Thanks! Hey Iida, do you want to come with me?" I asked.

"Yes, with pleasure." Iida said.

We headed towards the infirmary, which was starting to become a habit now that I though about it. That didn't look like a good thing, but I could think about it later. I opened the now familiar door – there's definitely something wrong there – and saw Ibara and Izuku lying on their beds. I could see Ochaco was already next to Izuku, which would explain her sudden disappearance at the end of the match.

"Hey, Izuku, Ibara." I said, waving. "How are you two doing?"

"Oh, hi Paul. Thanks to Recovery Girl, my vines are doing fine." Kate answered, smiling.

"I'm really exhausted, but besides that I'm fine." Deku said, sighing. "I'm not sure that I'm ready for our fight."

"That depends on how long the next fights are going to last…" I said. "But don't worry, I'm quite exhausted as well, you shouldn't be at a very big disadvantage."

"You say that, but aren't you used to being exhausted during fights?" Kate asked, suspicious.

"It's true that I'm able to cope better with fatigue than he can, but to be honest I don't think that's going to make a major difference." I said, shaking my head. "Well, anyway, I'm happy that both of you are fine. You pushed your quirks to their absolute limits during your fight. I'd even risk saying that it was quite the beautiful fight."

"Aw, thanks Paul. I didn't know you liked watching fights that much." Kate said, smirking deviously.

"Hey, I said this fight was beautiful, not every fight ever! It's just… you fought each other in a really fluid manner and I find that kind of appealing. I hope our fight is going to be as interesting, Izuku."

"I'll do my best!" He said, so seriously that it made everyone except Iida break into uncontrollable laughter.

"What is so funny, Aojikan, Ochaco, Ibara?" Iida asked, completely oblivious.

"It's just, the way he said his sentence was so serious that it was completely out of place." Ochaco answered, trying not to laugh. "It's hard not to laugh this much."

It took us a while to calm down. Long enough that Recovery Girl threatened to kick us out of the infirmary and banning us for the rest of the tournament. Now, normally I wouldn't have cared, but I was absolutely certain that she would make it last up until the reward ceremony, and I was not coming to that with a massive headache.

Anyway, after telling Izuku that his promise was now "legally-binding", I went back on the stands to watch the last match of round 2. When I arrived, Tsuyu explained what had happened in the last match. Unsurprisingly, she told me that Tokoyami had won – when you see Mina crying for absolutely no reason, it's kind of easy to tell what happened.

It was even less surprising considering the fact that acid doesn't work on… shadow, I guess? I have no idea what Bird edge lord's quirk is actually constituted off. Oh well, not that I have to worry about him.

Indeed, while Kirishima was putting pressure on Bakugou, I knew that was only retarding his inevitable demise. Once Bakugou had won this match, he would make quick work of Tokoyami, thanks to his light-producing explosions. So if I won against Izuku, I was ending up against the explosions master.

Bakugou did win the match – I was barely watching it because of how boring I knew it would be. There was another 15 minutes pause, with many, many ads. After scouting the area around the stadium again, just to check if any Order minions were there, I went to the waiting room, relieved that I hadn't found anything. I started to prepare my strategy, knowing that this fight would be hard.

Izuku was going to be fighting the same way that I was: very fast close combat. That was dangerous, because if I got hit, it would almost be over for me. The other way he was similar was that he always had a plan before entering into battle. And while my quirk was very hard to counter, it was not impossible, especially given the restrictions that I was facing because of Distemporality. This left me with one choice: deactivate the seal earlier than I usually did, and doing everything I could to win before the secondary effects started to pop up.

Eventually, I heard the audience cheering, so I headed towards the arena. I saw Izuku looked as stressed as usually, but he did look more focus than the first time I had fought him in training. After Present Mic made the hype train skyrocket, Midnight asked if we were ready. We both nodded, and the match begun.

Izuku and I stared at each other waiting for the other to make the first move. I knew that this would happen, so I was already breaking the seal quietly. Eventually, he decided that he waited for long enough and attacked from the side at record speed.

I was expecting this though, so thanks to my upgraded quirk duration, I was able to get a lot of hits on him. As I was expecting, when time resumed, he was barely projected backwards. However, I could tell that he was not expecting that at all.

The fight continued like this for a while, him trying to get closer to me, and I would just dodge and counter-attack. I kept in mind how exhausted I was becoming during the fight for a future project, and after one more counter-attack, I put my plan into execution.

Using the same technique I had used in my fight against Kate in the hero training course. All of this time I wasn't just counter-attacking, I was actually drawing a certain pattern around Izuku's PE costume. However, I also made some of it go behind this costume.

This would allow me to stop him before he could even jump on me. Once he was stopped, it would be a matter of seconds before he was out of the arena. The only problem was that it wouldn't last for very long.

Almost everything went according to plan, though I did underestimate Izuku's retaliation potential. This left me having to do another, more sloppy counter-attack. It turned out that I hadn't completed the seal, so in the end I was more effective.

After barely sending him backwards, I waited for just a second before using my quirk. He was completely frozen in place, and in that little time, I was able to send him flying towards the grass.

"Izuku is out of bounds… Aojikan wins and moves on to the final!" Midnight said, as the crowd cheered.

I helped Izuku back to his feet, and we went back to the seats. He didn't look very exhausted, but he seemed really disappointed.

"Man, I have no idea how to win against you… You always seem to think about something I had forgotten." He said, sighing. "I knew that you would unlock your quirk, so I wanted to wear you down with lightning flames, but you ended up using that seal on me."

"Well, I guess you'll know for next time." I said. "Though I might have a new trick up my sleeve next time we fight in such a context."

"In that case, I'll just have to think of a better plan. I will defeat you eventually!"

"If you say so."

We bumped into Bakugou while climbing up the stairs, and let me tell you that it was _awkward_. But not as awkward as when I met Todoroki's dad. That, was much worse. Anyway, after wishing him good luck – though he say that he didn't need it, surprisingly enough – we reached the seats. Everybody looked amazed by our fight. And by that I mean that their mouths were still open in shock!

"Izuku, Aojikan, that was one of the most impressive match I this sport festival." Iida said. "It is quite a shame that it didn't last any longer. Your movement was so fluid, and the way that Aojikan won…"

"Thanks, Iida. I guess everyone thinks the same as you do." I said, looking around. "Oy! Are you lads still alive? I'll kick you in the gut if you need to be woken up."

Everyone got scared enough that they _closed their mouths – _how long does it take to do this? Anyway, the next match was about to begin, so Tsuyu and the other girls asked once more who I thought would win.

"It's going to be spoilers if I tell you, but when one of the two has an unfair advantage in this match-up." I explained. "I already know how I'll be facing in the final."

"What? How is that possible?" Mina asked, completely shocked.

"Just watch the match. It shouldn't be too long until it becomes obvious." Tokoyami and Bakugou had already taken place on the arena.

"I hope all of you are excited for this match! On one side, the terror of class 1-A! He has completely outclassed anyone he has fought against, it's Bakugou!" Present Mic yelled as the audience cheered. "On the other side, the most mysterious fighter yet. He's also won every match with ease, it's Tokoyami!"

"Let the battle begin!"

Tokoyami immediately made Dark Shadow appear, and tried to attack Bakugou with it. Bakugou simply dodged, and didn't retaliate. This would be Tokoyami's best opportunity to win. Bakugou didn't know of his weakness yet, and he was backed into a corner.

It looked like Tokoyami knew this, as he kept attacking in a pattern that obligated Bakugou to get closer and closer to the edge of the arena. Bakugou wasn't attacking, just dodging. Something was weird, and I was voicing my concern to Izuku. He told me that perhaps Bakugou had a plan in which he intended to use his explosions in a certain way. I answered by saying that it was weird at the very least for Bakugou not to use his quirk at all while backed in a corner like this.

The blonde boy kept dodging, and he got closer and closer to the edge of the arena. Tension was building up. Was Tokoyami really going to win like this? I was scared yet excited at the same time. Tokoyami started to be more oppressive in his attack methods, meaning that Bakugou had to jump back further.

He finally noticed that he was on the edge of the arena – at least it looked like it. Of course, he used his explosion to jump over Tokoyami. However, in a brilliant display of strategy, Tokoyami silently turned around, waited for the light of the explosion to disappear, and when it did, he grabbed Bakugou with his shadow, and sent him flying much faster than I was expecting.

Midnight declared Bakugou to be out of bounds, and Tokoyami won. He had won, by exploiting Bakugou's lack of knowledge about him. He tricked him into thinking that attacking his shadows with his explosions would only result in a ruthless counter-attack. And finally, he had feigned a moment of weakness to make Bakugou come closer to him, and get him out of the stage.

Tokoyami had won against Bakugou, against all odds and any predictions. I myself had a problem now. While Bakugou would have been challenging to fight against, I was used to it, and he was too. And every time we had fought, the best he could was a draw. I only knew of Tokoyami's weakness, and without revealing the secret about where I came from, I wouldn't be able to to exploit it.

I decided that I needed to make a strategy, better than anything else I had done before. So I didn't wait any longer, and went into the waiting room. On my way, I bumped into Bakugou. I had some questions for him, so that turned out to be a good thing.

"Hey Bakugou. Do you have time for a couple of questions?" I asked.

"What's that? Is the number 1 student asking help from number 3?" He replied sarcastically.

"No, the number 1 student is having a very hard time understanding why the number 3 didn't use his explosions earlier." I answered.

"Let's go into that stupid waiting room. I don't want anyone to hear about that." He said as we walked into the room and closed the door.

"So, why is it that you kept dodging his attacks without retaliating?" I asked.

"I don't think you could have seen it, but his attacks were quicker than they looked." He answered. "He was hiding punches and kicks with his shadow, and I couldn't see them coming. So instead of just using my explosions like that, I decided it would be better to simply dodge out of the way and wait for an opening. I'm sure you're about to tell me that was the wrong choice, but I don't care. I don't have knowledge over what anyone's weaknesses are, and I don't want to have it."

"So what you're saying is that their were too many attacks, and even if your quirk affected the shadow, he would have still connected his hits with you?"

"Yeah, his attacks were hidden in his shadow. Even you would have a hard time dodging them." He said. "And if you can't, I don't see how you're going to win."

"I'm not one to abandon, Bakugou. Thanks for your insight, it's really helpful."

"Are you still going to do this?"

"Of course. Who do you think I am? If his plan is good, than I just have to make a better one." I said. "And if the first plan doesn't succeed, then I'll go to plan B, then C, and then once I'm actually out of ideas, only then will I admit defeat."

"You're never out of the ideas. But you'll lose your mind if you keep going. Not that I care anyway, I need to get to the arena. Freaking idiot." He mumbled the last part as he left the room, leaving me with plenty of time to come up with a plan.

* * *

**A.N.: **I don't think many people were expecting Tokoyami to win! The reason for it is that we've already seen that Aojikan can beat Bakugou in a fight, no problem. However, Tokoyami presents a more interesting challenge as Aojikan can't use his flames in a fight. If he could, the fight would be over in a second. Anyway, I found it interesting to reverse who won the fights, and it allows us to see a Bakugou versus Izuku fight, so that's nice. I hope you liked this chapter, and see you next time for the grand finale of the tournament arc!

_"SO MUCH FURY!"_


	19. The sports festival climax

**Chapter 19: ****The sports festival climax**

Bakugou and Izuku were on the arena. The crowd was cheering loudly as Present Mic introduced them once more. Cementoss was looking from behind, hoping he would not have to rebuild the arena again. Midnight asked the two boys if they were ready.

Izuku nodded, looking more confident than usual. While he had lost against Aojikan, that only gave him more determination for the upcoming fight. He had to win this. Not just to score third place, and tell the world "I am here!". He wanted to confront Bakugou, to show him that even without Aojikan's help, he was now able to defeat his bully.

Bakugou grunted, glaring angrily. It's not that he was specifically angry at Izuku, he was just angry that he had lost to Tokoyami, and that the number one spot was inaccessible to him. He could not afford to lose, and it didn't matter to him if Izuku lost a limb or something more important in the process.

Midnight let the match begin, and the two boys didn't wait any longer. Izuku jumped forward, channelling 20% of OFA in his legs. Bakugou charged towards the green-haired boy, using his explosions to hover in the air. Bakugou fired an explosion at Izuku, who dodged it, and tried to attack Bakugou. However, the blonde-haired boy was already behind him, and he fired an explosion on Izuku's back.

However, the green-haired boy suddenly disappeared before Bakugou could hit him, and he appeared behind him. Before his opponent could react, Izuku kicked him in the side. Bakugou was sent flying dangerously close to the edge of the arena, but he was able to use his explosions to get back in the fight.

The two stared at each other, waiting for the other's next move. When Bakugou got tired of waiting, he charged once more, screaming "Don't make me wait, useless Deku!". The boy in question readied himself with his quirk, and when Bakugou fired an explosion directly in front of him, he crouched and jumped to punch Bakugou in the gut. The blonde-haired kid lost his breath, which allowed Izuku to launch a combo of lightning fight punches and kicks, ending it with a 25% OFA charged punch.

"**Detroit SMASH!**" He screamed as Bakugou flew in the air.

However, the explosion-wielding boy smirked as he controlled the trajectory in which he was going with his quirk. He was high into the air, and as he fell back down, he started spinning around using his explosions. As he got closer and closer, Izuku realised how dangerous this explosion would be, and he prepared for the worst.

"**Howitzer Impact!**" Bakugou yelled as many huge explosions detonated over the arena.

Izuku was nowhere to be seen in the resulting smoke screen. Ochaco and Iida worried that their friend had been blasted away. The girl looked particularly afraid, as she hadn't yet said one thing to her friend. Mina and Tsuyu came towards her and they told her that Midoriya would be fine. After all, he had got through worse things, right?

The two girls were right as Izuku suddenly appeared behind Bakugou, and threw him off the arena with all of his strength. This time, Bakugou couldn't react in time as he had used most of his sweat on the last explosion. As such, he couldn't get back on the arena on time, and Izuku won the match. The green-haired boy came to help him back on his feet, but Bakugou rejected Izuku's hand, saying that he didn't need his help.

Izuku headed back to the observation area, and he met Aojikan on the way, who claimed that his plan was fully ready, and that he would be in first place. Izuku laughed, saying that he didn't expect less from his best friend.

"Deku, what about Ochaco? Isn't she your 'best friend'? Or perhaps a little more?" Aojikan teased, smirking when Izuku face turned red.

"Hey! We said we wouldn't talk about that. Besides, as I told you before, I don't know what I feel for her." He said, sighing.

"Well, you've got enough time to figure that out, I think. Also, is the arena even suitable for the match right now? I heard an enormous explosion earlier."

"Yeah, you might need to wait longer. It looks like Bakugou special attack was able to destroy most of the arena." Izuku said.

"Man, poor Cementoss. That guy must have had a rough day with all of these fights." Aojikan said, shaking his head. "Oh, Izuku? Can you tell something to Kate please?"

"Sure, what is it?" Izuku asked.

"Tell her that Edward found a mole on the east side of the stadium. And ask her if she could try to solve that problem. That's all." Aojikan said, looking more serious than before.

"If I may ask, what is a mole? And why have you two been so alert this whole tournament? It looks like you're not concerned about the fights."

"There is a possibility that the Order of villains has sent someone here to attack the sports festival. We're not sure who or why, but we both have had a weird feeling this whole time."

"Okay, I'll tell Ibara. But I'll also ask her to take me with her. After all, you need all the help you can get, right?" Izuku said after thinking for a while.

"That would be very helpful. Thank you, Izuku." Aojikan answered, smiling.

"Good luck on your fight!" Izuku said as he headed for the spectator area.

When he arrived, he noticed Bakugou was already there. Everyone else – including Todoroki – praised him for his fight, and asked if he was alright, if he needed help, and overwhelmed him with other mundane questions that really didn't matter. After a while, he yelled that he was really alright, so they didn't need to ask any other questions.

That seemed to do the trick, as everyone sat down and didn't bother him any more. A specific was indicated to him by Ochaco, right between her and Ibara. He went there, but only to tell Ibara that he had a message from Aojikan. She stopped smiling and followed Izuku towards the stairs.

"Hey, Izuku, have you seen Iida while you were coming here?" Ibara asked.

"Um, no. Why?" Izuku asked.

"He left earlier for family reasons, so I wanted to know if you had seen him, and if he had perhaps explained it to you. He looked very distressed, so I was concerned for him." She explained.

"Wait. Do you know what side he exited from?" Izuku said as he remembered what Aojikan had said. What if Iida ran into the villain?

"Um, I don't remember? But I think that he must have exited towards the east side. That's the closest from here and from the exit of the school. Why do you need to know?" Ibara asked, confused.

"Aojikan said he had detected a mole on the east side of the stadium." Ibara suddenly understood, and she was now blaming herself for not having stopped him. "If we want to save him, we have to rush towards there as fast possible."

"You stay here. It's my responsibility anyway, and I don't want to put you in danger." Ibara started leaving, but Izuku grabbed her arm.

"You can't say that. I've been training with Aojikan since we were young. I know that it's dangerous, but I can't let you leave alone. Who knows how powerful this person is? And if you are hurt, I'm sure that Aojikan will be way to angry to make rational decisions. We need to take care of this issue, together."

"When you put things like that, it's hard to argue against you. You almost sound like him." Ibara shook her head. "Well, you've convinced me. But don't you dare slow me down."

"Same to you." Izuku said as they left.

* * *

When the arena was finally ready, Aojikan and Tokoyami were called for their fight. The two faced each other on the arena. Present Mic did his usual presentation, and Midnight asked if they were ready.

Aojikan nodded, though he looked distracted. Having found out that there was an Order goon, but that he hadn't noticed them earlier made him angry against himself. And he couldn't help but worry about Izuku and Ibara. The former had been trained personally by him, but he was wondering if that training would be enough to face a trained agent of the Order. Aojikan had only detected him when he had briefly let out some killer instinct, and that was way too impressive to be some newbie.

He wasn't worried about Ibara because she wasn't able to defend herself – far from it, in fact, she was probably the person that was the closest to him in battle prowess. He just worried about her because he loved her. He knew it was irrational, but each time they left on individual missions, he couldn't help but think about her. In fact, he almost failed many of his first individual missions because of it, but he had gotten more focused over time. Even then, that nagging feeling of worry would not go away.

Tokoyami nodded himself, being fully focused on the battle ahead of him. He had never expected to win against Bakugou in any scenarios, but here he was. All of that because of a strategy that Aojikan had suggested a long time ago.

_Flashback_

_During the pause, Tokoyami had been walking around trying to find a certain blue-haired boy. Having finally found him with Ibara, he waved to get Aojikan's attention. Ibara left to go somewhere with Ochaco to leave the two of them alone._

"_Aojikan, could you come please?" Tokoyami asked._

"_Sure." He answered. "What do you need from me? I'm guessing you want advice for your match against Bakugou, right?"_

"_Yes, this is correct." Tokoyami said. "As you know, my quirk becomes weak when exposed to light sources, and because of this, it appears that I am at a major disadvantage against Bakugou. Do you have any ideas about how I could defeat him?"_

"_Hmm… Let's see…" Aojikan wondered aloud, eyes closed. "The only way I see you winning is if you somehow defeat him before he finds out about your quirk's weakness. Say, for example, that you engage with a flurry attack that somehow forces him to dodge instead of using his explosions. It doesn't necessarily mean that you must make sure that he absolutely doesn't use his quirk – that is impossible. However, if you somehow make him use his explosions while your quirk is not active, and you manage to push him of the stage… It's possible, but it's very unlikely."_

"_Thank you Aojikan, that's quite helpful." Tokoyami thanked._

"_You're welcome! And good luck."_

_Flashback_

He was about to face Aojikan with the same strategy that he had helped him built. How ironic, he thought.

"Let the battle start!" Midnight said.

The two boys didn't start doing anything. Instead they just stared at each other. Neither of them wanted to take the first move. Eventually, Tokoyami called upon his quirk, and dashed towards Aojikan, preparing the same flurry of attacks he had used on Bakugou.

However, instead of hitting him, Tokoyami's attack was met by air. Not understanding, he turned to look backwards, but was too slow as Aojikan hit his face with an uppercut. He was sent towards the ground but using his quirk, he was able to easily recover.

Now conscious that Aojikan was doing something he didn't quite understand, he started making theories. He decided to test those by sending Dark Shadow to attack Aojikan. But the blue-haired boy didn't use the same strategy as before. Instead he simply dodged every attack and pulled Tokoyami towards him by pulling on his quirk. He proceeded to attack the bird-headed boy, launching an impressive series of attack that Tokoyami wasn't able to dodge. And this was without using his quirk!

Tokoyami thought he was done for, but there was a moment where Aojikan sent him flying through the air, and it looked like he tried to pull on him, as if to make him come closer. As there was nothing that linked Aojikan's hand and Tokoyami's body, the bird boy just fell on the ground. Aojikan stayed stunned like this for a moment, and it looked like he didn't understand what had just happened.

Tokoyami tried to take advantage of this opening, but Aojikan was still alert to his surroundings, and reacted as he had previously. The bird-headed boy once more flew right through him, not feeling anything physical. When he turned back to see Aojikan, the time manipulator was nowhere to be seen.

Out of nowhere, Tokoyami suddenly felt incredible pain in his stomach. He fell to his knees, barely conscious, and wasn't able to keep his quirk active. He tried standing up again, but was incapable of doing so. He lost consciousness briefly afterwards.

Aojikan was barely conscious as well, and it took all he had to stand up. The instant Midinight said that he had won, he collapsed on the ground, fading out of consciousness.

_I… did it… I won the sports festival. _These were his last thoughts before he closed his eyes. He was brought to the infirmary, but he wasn't wounded, and considering his tired state, Recovery Girl decided it would be better to wait until he woke up on his own. By then, he should have recovered. As such, the award ceremony was delayed until Aojikan woke up. That ended up being the best excuse for more advertisement!

* * *

Kate and Izuku had found a way to exit, and had asked every person that they met if they had seen a tall boy with blue hair. Most of the answers that they got were negative. However, after minutes of searching, they found one person who had actually seen him.

Izuku immediately recognized him as the pro hero Kamui Woods. After fanboying for a while – a verb that Aojikan had invented for this particular reaction of Izuku – the boy was brought back to reality by Kate, who punched him.

"Hey, that was uncalled for!" Izuku said.

"Sorry Deku, but we have no time. We need to find Iida quick." Ibara said, shaking her head.

"Why are you so worried about your friend? Is he in danger?" Kamui Woods asked.

"Yes, we believe so." Ibara answered. "If you would be so kind, do you think you would be able to give us a special authorization to use our quirks?"

"Why don't you ask for my help or any of the other pro heroes?" He asked. "You're still heroes-in-training, I think it would be better if you let us pros deal with it."

"We don't have much time, and we're afraid that the pro heroes wouldn't make it in time." Ibara explained. "Besides, we're not completely sure that there is a threat. But if there is, we don't really have the time to go back and forth. By that time, well, it could already be to late to do anything."

"I understand. I'll give you the authorization, but on one condition only." The pro hero said sternly. "If there is a threat, you must try your best to get the message to us, without losing sight of your circumstances."

"Yes sir!" They both answered together. "Thank you very much!"

Both of them rushed to the direction in which Iida was heading. Eventually they saw him from behind, but he wasn't moving. Relieved, they ran towards him. But before they could reach him, a hand of stone appeared out of nowhere, and it grabbed Iida, pulling him behind a wall.

"Iida!" Izuku yelled.

"Oh-ho? So you two know this boy." A voice said, coming from behind the same building. "Interesting, very interesting…"

Ibara realised what was going on, and pushed Izuku behind a wall, hiding with him. She thought that the villain might have a way to see what was going on on the main street. A mirror, or perhaps his own quirk. Whatever it was, they certainly didn't want him to know more about their identities.

"Oh, hiding are we? Useless, useless! I can still see that there are two of you." The villain said, but this time his voice came from the walls themselves.

"Izuku, do you have any idea how he can do this? Give me all the theories you have about his quirk, and quick!" Ibara whispered.

"I'm already searching." Izuku whispered, deep in thought.

"Trying to whisper so I can't hear you? Weak, truly weak! I'll let you know that my quirk, Wavelength, will let me know where you are and what you say." The villain sneered.

Izuku, invigorated by this new information, searched even deeper than before. Meanwhile, Ibara, not liking this forced waiting she had to go through, tried to think of a way to send a message to the pro heroes without being detected by the villain. To add insult to injury, the man spoke up again.

"So, let's get to negotiating shall we?" He said, as Ibara cursed under her breath. "You can call me whatever you want, but it doesn't change the fact that your friend is my hostage right now. So let's lay down the conditions under which I may want to let your friend go. First, tell me about how you found me."

"As if we'd ever do that, you creep!" Ibara yelled, fire in her eyes.

"Must I remind you that I have your friend hostage? If you keep being so impertinent, I might have to cut one of his legs." The villain said, as if it were completely normal. "After all, he seems to have such a nice quirk…"

"You really are a creep, aren't you? Earlier, we could sense your blood thirst for just a second. Going off of that, I assume that you're working with someone else right?" Ibara said, showing her prowess in quick thinking. "Come to think of it, I don't see many reasons you'd be angry enough to let your blood thirst go out of control, except perhaps working with an incompetent ally. It looks like you aren't with him right now, maybe he's your backup?"

"Knowing this doesn't bring you any closer to saving your friend. In the end, anything you find out about me is utterly useless!" The villain said, breaking into maniacal laughter.

"You are very wrong. If we have enough information about you, we can form a plan on how to deal with you, while also saving Iida." Izuku spoke up, surprising the villain. "And I've basically figured out your quirk. You can manipulate the earth, presumably with either your feet or your hands. But you can also listen to the vibrations in the ground. I have no idea how precise that must be so that you can actually hear us talk behind a wall of concrete, but that seems to take all of your concentration."

"What are you talking about? I feel all of the vibrations in the ground, whether I'm focusing on them or not!" There was a hint of anger in the villain's voice, probably because he was found out. "And besides, I have felt that you've been doing something in the ground this whole time." It was true indeed that both of them were communicating using Ibara's vines. To make easier to read, they had put the vines in the ground.

"Maybe you have, but if I were to ask you what that was precisely, would you be able to answer?" Izuku said, knowing full well that the villain was close to his breaking point.

"You… You're the kind of person that I hate the most… The kind that overthinks everything, but somehow manages to be right all the time! That's it! I'm killing your friend, right now!" The blood thirst they could feel told them that he wasn't messing around.

"Don't think we'll let you do it! **Detroit Smash!**" Izuku yelled as he punched the wall. Ibara's vines flew in through the openings to try and catch something.

However they were suddenly attacked by the ground itself, which collapsed under them. Izuku thought he was done for, but Ibara detached some of her vines from her head to catch him in a net. Meanwhile they could finally see the other side of the wall, as the rubble had gone in the crater.

Ibara had managed to catch the villain, and she separated him from the earth. It turned out Izuku's assumption had been correct, as the villain tried to do everything he could to touch the ground with his hands. Before he could do so, Izuku jumped in the air and punched the villain in the stomach. He intentionally weakened his punch so Ibara's vines wouldn't snap, and so that he didn't kill the villain. This time, it looked like the villain didn't have any smart retort to this.

"In the end, it's all useless. You may have defeated me, but as incompetent as my ally is, he is more than able to finish you off." The villain smirked as Izuku and Ibara relieved expressions turned back to worry in the blink of an eye. "And while it's true I was angry that our master thought my ally would be enough for this mission, that's not why I let my blood thirst run free. No, I let it run free when I felt that very specific vibration in the ground. There was a very subtle difference between it and all the others. In an instant, he produced a lot more vibrations that are normally possible.

"There is only one person in all of our data that is supposedly able to do this. And he's the one who took out many of my friends. However, it looks like today I'll be able to return the favour. From what I remember from the data, it said that his two most precious friends were a boy with a strength enhancement quirk, and a girl with vines for hair. I can't even believe that I was so lucky finding you two. Well, it's about time for you to go. Any last words, heroes?"

"Don't think you can underestimate us, villain!" They both said simultaneously.

"Truly, truly weak. It is useless for you to struggle! The combination of our two quirks reigns supreme over every other quirk!"

Those were the last things they heard before they saw a massive explosion coming their way.

* * *

I was woken up by the sound of a huge explosion. I thought that perhaps Bakugou thought it would be funny to wake me up using his quirk, but then I noticed that the explosion seemed to come from very far away. Probably outside of the arena.

_Wait a minute, outside of the arena… Kate! _I suddenly realised.

Without waiting, I climbed out of the now familiar infirmary bed, and I rushed towards where I had heard the explosion. Recovery Girl was nowhere to be seen. I exited the stadium, and saw all the pro heroes rush towards the same direction. I followed them, knowing that they were probably going to where the explosion was.

When I reached a crater, I could see All Might standing there, without his characteristic smile. Recovery Girl was standing besides two bleachers. I got closer, and I recognized the two people on them. Izuku and Kate. For some reason, Iida was standing besides them. They looked like they were severely burned, though Iida was unharmed. I imagined that the fight had perhaps turned wrong, and they had done everything they could to protect him.

I managed to look away from them, albeit painfully, to see who All Might was facing. A villain, who looked like he had severe burns as well was standing there, panting. _There's no way his quirk could injure him like that without being more powerful… he must have a partner. _I thought, looking around but not finding this hypothetical partner.

I stared of the villain, filled with rage against this person who had hurt Kate. Edward brought me back to reality by saying that being angry wouldn't do anything positive for me in this situation. He told me to stay calm, and try to form a plan based on that. I sighed, and said that he was correct. I went to where Iida was and asked him if he knew what the villain's ability was.

"During the battle, the villain seemed to be talking with Midoriya and Ibara. At the end, I was able to hear them as well." Iida said. "Midoriya said that the villain's ability was to manipulate the earth with his hands. He can also listen to these vibrations, and based on that, he can tell that someone is moving."

"Thanks Iida, that's really helpful." I said.

I went closer to the crater, but the pro heroes told me to stay on the side. They didn't want anyone else to be injured, and while I understood them, I wasn't backing off. There was something eerily similar with someone that I had faced a long time ago, and I needed to see if this was just a coincidence or if there was actually something weird happening.

"Oh-ho? I wasn't expecting such a warm welcome. So many pro heroes… But in the end, it's truly useless, isn't it?" The villain asked, nobody daring to answer him. He was injured beyond repair, but yet he spoke as if nothing hurt him. "After all, I believe that only one hero must come forth for this battle to be won. All Might, I believe that this is your name. The general did mention you as some kind of major annoyance, but I was told to not fight you unless absolutely necessary. After all, I believe that my true target has finally appeared before me."

The pro heroes all looked astonished. Who could have expected that the villain didn't want to take All Might down, but that instead the number one hero would be downgraded to the rank of a 'major annoyance'? This was unheard of. Most smart villains knew better than to anger him, but not wanting to take him down was on another level entirely. Deep down, I realised that my assumption must be correct. I had never met anyone else like this, except for a certain executive within the Order.

However, Gaster had taught me something: Assumptions are the only way to find the truth, but if they're not verified, they're the best way to spread untruth. As such, I had to check, even though I really wanted to let All Might deal with him. This is why I went forward, even when the pro heroes had told me to stand aside.

"All Might, you shouldn't fight this battle." I whispered to the giant man. "After all, how are we going to defeat All for One if you don't have One for All?"

"I know this, but are you sure you can deal with him?" The number one hero asked me.

"I have to. It might be the only way to come back to my timeline." All Might stared at me, only to sight after a while.

"If that is the case, then please, dispose of this threat. I give you the authorization to use your quirk, young boy!" All Might said the last sentence aloud, so that the pro heroes couldn't blame me for illegal usage of my quirk.

I jumped in the crater, oblivious to all the pro heroes shouting that this was suicidal. I focused on the enemy before me, and we were stuck in a staring contest for a while. Eventually, he broke the silence:

"When I came here, I couldn't believe what the general had told me. To think that the enemy who had managed to defeat him was now in a body where he couldn't use magic, that was unbelievable." The villain said, slowly unravelling the secret around his identity. "However, when I sensed all of the vibrations coming from the stadium, there was one that stuck out to me. After all, how could I forget the pattern that had begun my last mission? I was so angry, that for a single moment, I let my blood thirst out. Of course, it was but a fraction of a second, but I knew that you would be able to detect it. Isn't that right, Paul Johnson?"

"Of course. I wouldn't forget the first time where I felt true fear at your hands." I said, smiling ever so slightly. "My first ever solo mission… Isn't it kind of ironic that your last mission was my first, executive Smith?"

"Very ironic indeed." Smith said, smiling like the devil. "So, are you ready to feel true fear again? This time, you don't even have your best friend Kate to help you. Isn't it sad that you came just a bit too late?"

"It's really annoying rather than sad." I said, smile disappearing. "This time, I'll make sure you won't come back."

"I'd like to see you try!" He said, rushing towards me.

And this is how the fight begun. His first attacks were unbearably slow, almost like he thought I hadn't evolved since the last time. I didn't even have to use my quirk to dodge his attacks, and I showed him that I wasn't messing around. I punched him in the stomach, and I sent him flying with a kick.

He stood back up, smiling even more than before. It looked like he was actually enjoying this, and it was really creepy. He started using his own power, though it looked like transforming it into a quirk actually weakened it considerably. Waves of stone hands tried to grab on to me or to attack me, but I just dodged and destroyed all of them casually, with minimum use of my quirk.

"Oi! I'd suggest that you'd get serious very soon, or you're not going to like what's happening next!" I said, annoyed that he wasn't taking me seriously.

"Don't worry, that was just a warming-up. After all, we don't want you to break any muscles now, do we?" He started laughing maniacally, and I was certain that all the pro heroes behind, All Might included, were completely terrified.

He instantly started an actually challenging attacks, making the hands bigger and harder to destroy, and sending them in patterns that made it almost impossible to dodge. I weaved through the attacks, but this time it actually required me to focus on what was happening. Soon enough I was in front of him, and before he could react, I attacked him in quick succession using my quirk.

He didn't even seem fazed and jumped backwards, putting some distance between him and me. I knew that I was at the centre of the crater, so I followed him, not wanting to end up cornered. However, before I could get to him, a huge hand blocked my path, and grabbed me. He started to squash me, like I was some kind of bug. Before long, I was struggling to breathe, and I gasped audibly.

"Let me give you some advice: in the end, whatever you do, it is truly useless! Useless, useless, useless!"

I wasn't going to lose like that. So in a very painful effort, I managed to bring out my quirk for just long enough that I could get out of his grip and jump out of his hand's range. Time resumed its normal pace and I saw that I was just barely out of range when he swung the dirt hand to grab me. For whatever reason, I turned back to see Izuku and Ibara struggling to breathe. I almost slapped myself in frustration. _What am I doing? Kate and Deku are fighting for their lives, and I'm barely __winning against__ the first villain I fought against? This won't d__o._

I looked towards him again. This time I wasn't smiling, nor was I really angry. I was just completely determined to take him down for the last time. Without realizing it, my hair spiked as electricity started covering my body.

"Really? Flames again? They didn't work last time, why do you think this would be any different?" He asked, looking disappointed.

"Last time, I didn't really have anything fuelling them. But this time, I know that I must take you down. So that nobody else suffers!"

I dashed towards him, and a second later I was in front of him. Surprised, he wasn't able to react when I brutally punched and kicked him with all of my force. He summoned his hand to squash me again, but this time I just used my quirk in conjunction with my flames to explode it in one hit.

Afterwards, I kept attacking him. He tried to dodge, but I was moving too quick for him. He started sending vibrations in the ground out of nowhere, and I knew that he was preparing his explosions attack.

"In the end everything is useless! Because you are already going to die!"

"I know." I said, rushing towards the position of his ally in an instant, taking him out of his hiding place.

"What?! Impossible! How did you know?" He asked, stunned.

"Simple: I had been told that there was someone helping you. And while we were talking to each other, I looked around to see if I could find him." I said, looking at the boy's scared face. I knew that this wasn't someone voluntarily helping them, so I sent him to All Might so he could protect him. "Hey! All Might, catch!"

All Might caught him perfectly, ensuring that the boy wasn't injured by my reckless throw. I sent All Might a thumbs up, and he did the same, his smile back on his face. I turned to face Smith again, cracking my knuckles. Now that the boy was out of the way, I could actually fight seriously knowing that I wouldn't hurt anybody.

"Are you satisfied, Paul Johnson? Because this mean I can finally fight without having to injure him as well." He said. "Not that I care about him, that thought would never cross my mind. But the boss seems to care about him enough that he specifically told me not to kill him. But now, I can use my full power! **Magic seal: Undo!**"

I felt power surge around him. He sent a vibration through the floor, and were it not for my quirk, I probably would have ended up severely injured. I finally recognized Executive Smith, the one who had almost killed me on my first mission. He kept attacking, this time sending the vibrations through the air.

This time, I had a bit more time to react, so I decided to try something out. This was the only strategy that I could think off to defeat his now fully unlocked ability.

I had saw at what rhythm the vibration was moving to the ground, so I was basically able to know how fast they would go in the air. I slowed down time so that one second for me would be one oscillation for the wave. And then, using my dying will flames, I reproduced the rhythm of the wave to then cancel it by sending the same wave but in reverse. I did the same thing for all of the waves, and then time resumed at the same moment I was cancelling the last one.

I realised that if he sent more waves, I wouldn't have enough time to cancel them all before time resumed and the rest attacked me. As such, I decided to unravel the seal partially so I would have just enough time if he sent about twenty waves. That was a split-second decision. I was betting that he wasn't able to send more waves than he had been able to last time. At the same time, I was giving me the bare minimum so that he wouldn't be able to attack me while I unlocked the seal.

Miraculously, as I had predicted, he couldn't attack me directly afterwards, so I was able to unlock the seal. When he attacked me with some of his waves, I decided to dodge instead of cancelling them. I didn't know when he would send his big attack, so I saved my quirk until I knew for sure. After all, if my quirk was on cool down during his special attack, I wouldn't survive.

"Oi, will you stop dodging and actually attack me?" He yelled after I had dodged his attacks for a while. "If you keep doing this, then I will kill the pro heroes and all your friends!"

I knew this wasn't an empty threat, so I took this as my chance to attack him. At the peak of anger, he abandoned every last remaining drop of energy he had to send 30 waves towards me. I couldn't believe it, and I thought that there was no way I could cancel all of those, as I hadn't given myself enough time.

"Take this, Johnson! This attack is unavoidable! **Grand encirclement!**"

For whatever reason, instead of running away, I stood there. Waiting for the waves to come. At the last possible instant, I slowed down time. And I cancelled every single wave, except for the last one. I thought I was done for. After all, that single wave would probably explode every single one of my internal organs, without failure.

But again, instead of running away, as time resumed its normal pace, I moved towards the wave. And using all of my dying will flames, I reversed the wave. Smith lost his smile, and he looked increasingly scared as the wave came closer and closer to him.

"No…No…Impossible, nobody has ever survived this attack! And yet you, you return it against me! No way!" Smith yelled, as he started exploding.

"I, Paul Johnson, have a dream. That one day I may return to my timeline. And whoever is in my way will have to get out of it! Go back to your timeline, Smith!"

Smith's body, that had been exploding just a second before, vanished in a huge cloud of smoke. I had been partially expecting this ever since I had saw him here, and when the smoke vanished, everything was explained. Where Smith had been a couple of seconds ago, the only thing that was left was a blue stone, that I instantly recognized as a portion of the time crystal that general Legrand had been carrying with him.

What I had thought wasn't actually Smith. It was a magical body created to reproduce his, and it was remotely controlled through a time spell. As such, he was able to use magic, but his body was fading away as he was. After all, his only source of magic would be the body itself. Relieved that he hadn't actually broken out of prison, I took the stone and put it in my pocket. I was closer than I ever had been to coming back to my timeline. This stone was the key that would open the door to it.

I climbed back out of the crater, and sat besides Kate and Izuku. The pro heroes wanted to talk to me, but Recovery Girl told them to get lost, and asked if they couldn't see that I wanted a bit of time alone. Eventually, everyone left, but I was still there by Izuku and Kate's side. An ambulance arrived, and I asked Recovery Girl if I could come with them.

"That's against all the procedures…" She said, shaking her head. "But I'll allow it, just once. Take it as a thank you for saving us from the villain."

"Yes, thank you, Recovery Girl. I won't forget." I said, barely hearing my own voice.

During the whole trip to the hospital, I couldn't turn my head away from both of them. I was incredibly worried about both of them, and especially for Kate. Not that I didn't care about Izuku, far from it, but it actually hurt me to see how badly she was burned. I could see that she had tried to take the hit for Izuku and Iida.

Before long, we arrived at the hospital. After waiting for a while, I was told where Izuku was, and that Kate was currently in theatre. Not showing my worry, I thanked the person and headed to Izuku's room. I saw that his mom was already there, crying all the tears of her body. When she saw me she came to hug me.

"Thanks for protecting my baby boy, Aojikan." She said, as my t-shirt turned wet. "Recovery Girl told me you had fought a villain to protect him."

"You should thank Ibara, not me." I said, shaking my head. I felt tears forming in my eyes. "She took the full blunt of the explosion to protect Izuku. That's why he only has minor burns."

"You still did a great job, didn't you? I'm sure Ibara would be proud of you." Inko said, looking at me with tender eyes.

"I don't deserve this praise, Miss Midoriya. I just did what I had to do… But in the end, I wasn't able to protect her…" I couldn't contain my tears any more.

This was when my mom showed up. Inko stopped hugging me so that my mom could. She didn't say anything, just stroking my hair gently.

"Calm down, okay? Everything's gonna be alright." She said smoothly.

"Miss Midoriya, I'm sorry for my breakdown." I said when I managed to stop crying.

"No problem, Aojikan. I can't really blame you when I did the same thing." She said, looking at her son.

"Izuku's just like you. He would have cried just as much as you did. It's kind of crazy how similar you two are." I said.

"Of course silly! She's his mother!" My mom said, taking advantage of her height to punch me.

"Ow… Why did you do that?" I asked.

She just started laughing uncontrollably. Both Inko and I joined her shortly. Izuku woke up shortly after, and it took a while for us to explain why we were laughing in front of him when he on a hospital bed. After a doctor came to check up on Izuku, he was dismissed, as in the end, his injuries were minor enough that he had been healed by Recovery Girl when he had been conscious earlier. As such, nothing was wrong with him, and he could go without any problems.

I asked the doctor if he knew how Kate was doing. He told me that he didn't know who that was, but he had seen a girl come out of theatre not too long ago. He told us where she probably was, and we thanked him as we left the room. As we were heading towards the room, I asked my mom a question that had been on my mind for a while.

"Mom, why isn't Dad with you?"

"Oh, well, he didn't take a day off to see your performance in the sports festival like I did." She explained. "So he wasn't available to come."

Satisfied by that answer, I didn't say anything more. My mind was now completely focused on Kate again. I really hoped that they had been able to heal her. I couldn't bear to see her like that.

We found Kate's room, and I knocked on the door. I thought that I heard her voice say enter, and I couldn't believe it, so I opened the door immediately. Lo and behold, while Kate's parents were besides her, I could see the she was actually awake, and not injured any more. When she saw me, she smiled knowingly. Once more, I couldn't hold it in. I rushed by her side to hug her, and started crying.

"You really are a crybaby, aren't you?" She asked.

"I thought that I wouldn't see you again… I was so scared…" I kept crying as I said that, so it must have sounded weird.

"Well, I'm here now, so I think that everything's alright." She smirked. "As you can tell, Paul, there was a small unforeseen event in that fight."

"A 'small' unforeseen event? Are you kidding me, Kate?" I asked, laughing.

"Of course I am, silly." She said, laughing as well. "I can't bear to see you so gloomy, so cheer up. It's all over now."

"That's not appropriate. It's far from over, as I have yet to make all of my JoJo references!"

"And there we go. Now you're back to not being even remotely serious." She said shaking her head.

"Don't complain, you're the one who started it." I said, smiling.

Everyone else in the room coughed loudly, to indicate that we might be forgetting people here. We apologized, and they said it was fine. My mom told me that we needed to leave, because I couldn't possibly stay all night at a hospital.

"And don't try to injure yourself to stay." Everyone laughed when she said this, even though this was pretty dark.

"Mom! I wouldn't do that and you know it! And you, stop laughing! It's not even that funny!" I said, blushing madly.

"Aojikan, if you could see your face right now, I'm sure you would join in the fun." Kate managed to say as she suppressed her laughter.

"That's it. Mom, can we leave please?" I said with pleading eyes.

"Of course we can, I'm the one who suggested the idea." I saw that she made a thumbs up towards Kate as we left.

I sighed as we left, fully relieved. I hadn't realised that I was so tense during the day, but I guess that's to be expected. I had finally found a hint to how I should I come back to my timeline, after so much time in the dark. That made me hopeful for the future. At least, I knew that no day would ever be as crazy as this one had been, and that was enough good news for me.

* * *

**A.N.: **I can barely believe that I wrote so much. A fitting conclusion to what has become the longest arc in this fan fiction, I guess. Well, it's been quite fun to write this chapter anyway. As I'm going back to school next week, I might end up being more regular than during the holidays, so that's a positive. The next chapter will be a bit of fluff and exposition as I start thinking about the internship arc. Again, I'd like to thank everyone that has stuck with me during my hiatus, and everyone that still follows this fan fiction. And by the way, if you have any questions on the story, feel free to send a DM or post a review. I'd be happy to answer. Well, anyway, I'll see you next week for a new chapter of _The quirky adventures!_

_"I have the weeping! Such a reunion of sobs!"_


	20. The truth about Wadokei Aojikan(part 1)

**Chapter 20: The Truth about Wadokei Aojikan(part 1)**

The next day was a nice break for me. I woke up, still feeling very tired, probably due to overuse of my quirk yesterday. I said hello to my mom and dad and ate breakfast while checking the news. As usual, most of it was just a collection of random villain attacks that had happened yesterday, including the one next to UA. That one, however, was on the first page of every newspaper, with every single detail that could be found about the story. UA had apparently announced that they would be making a public announcement tomorrow, about their security and what they were planning to do to protect the students.

I wrote down a note to watch the whole thing on TV in one of my quirk analysis notebooks, and then I prepared to leave. It was a day off because the sports festival had happened, but the training we had with Izuku, Ochaco and Iida needed to continue. However, before doing so, I wanted to see Kate at the hospital. I had planned everything with her parents yesterday, and the hospital was okay with letting me see her early in the morning.

When I arrived at the hospital, a tired receptionist asked what I was doing here. I showed the note that authorized me to visit Kate, and the receptionist told what room she was in. I thanked her, even though I already knew what room Kate was in. Let's just say that after waiting a few hours for the information yesterday, it wasn't getting out of my head. Thanks to this, I wasn't lost in the hospital's maze-like layout. I knocked on Kate's door, and I heard her sweet, sweet voice saying "Come in!"

When I entered, I was smiling like an absolute idiot, and Kate didn't fail to notice. She started laughing as I closed the door, and I glared at her as if to say: "What gives?"

"Hello Paul." She managed to say between giggles – that were super adorable by the way! "I'm so sorry, it's just, seeing you enter with that weird look on your face, I couldn't help myself."

"Don't worry, it's fine." I said, shaking my head. "When I heard your adorable voice I couldn't help but smile. Knowing that you're still alright makes my day a lot better. I couldn't help but come before the training."

"I can't believe it… Did your school have courses on how to become a seducer?" Kate asked.

"What? No, of course not. I really mean it." I answered, blushing. "Sorry if it was embarrassing."

"No, no don't worry, you're fine." Kate quickly said. "You can come next to me if you want… I don't want to force you to stand up. And then we can talk about the news together. If you still know what's going on?"

"Of course I do. As your daily newspaper, I couldn't afford to come here without the news." I sat on a chair next to her. "Well, as you might have guessed, the media are in an uproar. They really don't like the fact that UA had two security breaches back to back."

"Even though this time, it's kind of my fault…" Kate looked like she felt guilty for what she had done.

"NONESENSE!" I said, channelling my inner All Might. "Sorry about that, what I meant to say was that you shouldn't blame yourself for it. If you hadn't been there, than Iida would have been in serious trouble. Even then, I don't even think we should blame UA. This area was technically out of their walls, and they were already making the pro heroes they had protect everyone in the stadium."

"Thanks Paul. But I'm guessing the media don't see it this way?" She asked.

"No, clearly this is not the way that most of the journalists see it." I shook my head in disbelief. I could understand that the media weren't happy that UA had another villain attack, but I still thought that they were going a bit too far. "That's why UA is doing a press conference tomorrow, so that the journalists stop complaining. And by the way, that means that tomorrow is also off. So I was wondering if we should extend the training?"

"I don't know… You told me that Iida can't come today right? Try to work on Ochaco's flames, since Iida and me aren't here." She said. "As for tommorow, we'l' see if I'm still in the hospital, but I don't think we should extend the training. I think Izuku and you should be able to do this, right?"

"OK, we'll focus on that. Last thing, I didn't tell you what I found after Executive Smith disappeared yesterday, right?" I asked, very serious.

"He dropped something?" Kate was quite surprised.

"That's not quite correct. It looks like his body was a magical body that was remotely controlled by him." I explained, showing the time stone I had found. "This is how he was doing it. Edward and I analysed it yesterday, and it looks like it's a portion of the time crystal that the general had used to teleport us in this timeline."

"That's… incredible. Have you been able to do anything with it?" Kate asked, looking very hopeful.

"Unfortunately, it would appear that once the spell was ended, the time stone locked itself." I sighed, remembering my disappointment yesterday. "I tried to use time spells to interact with our timeline, but even the smallest ones didn't work. However, there is one thing that did work."

"What did you manage to do?"

"Thanks to Edward's help, and a bit of memory, I detected the general's magic on the stone. And then, using this, I was able to locate the other fragments of the stone with precision." I explained. "I was also able to detect a much bigger fragment than the others, and as I tried locating it, something stopped me… As if someone was trying to stop me from accessing some information. I still have a pretty vague idea of where he might be hiding…"

"So we've actually found him… I never thought that he actually had came to this timeline." Kate said. "Well, even if we aren't able to use the stone's power to interact with our timeline, I guess that means we can stil' do other things with it.

"Correct, I intend try that out while Izuku and Ochaco are sparring." I said. "So, there is a slight possibility that when I come back, something might have changed about me."

"You're always risking your life, but that's what we agreed on." She looked like she wanted to hug me and never let go. "That said, if we ever want to get out, thsi stone won't help us, so we've only got one solution."

"Yes, as much as I like it here, we must come back to our timeline. And that means that we have to face the general, again. But this time, without our magic, our teammates, or the plan we had last time." I was getting scared yet excited at the same time.

"This feels like the greatest challenge we've ever had… But that only makes me more motivated!" She smiled, and I could see her shaking.

"Yeah, let's kick that guy's butt again!" I hoped that we weren't making too much noise. After all, it was very early in the morning. But before I could worry any more, Kate hugged me tightly.

"Don't get too excited, you don't have your genius plan yet, do you?"

"You're right, I'm going to start developing it with Deku. So, I need to leave." I said.

"You do… Well, see you later!" She broke the hug, smiling sadly.

"See you." I said sweetly, kissing her.

I left the room, said goodbye to the tired receptionist - not even sure she heard me - and headed towards the beach area. Even though we had cleaned it up months ago, we still practised there, because it was very spacious and not many people came here early in the morning. Ochaco and Izuku were already there when I arrived, so I greeted them and asked when they had got here.

"Oh, well, Deku and I came together from his home. It's been 5 minutes since we got here." Ochaco explained. "By the way, is All Might going to come today?"

"No, unfortunately he's got his hands full with everything happening around UA." I sighed, and sneakily got closer to Izuku. "Just one sec, we'll be back Ochaco."

I pushed Izuku far enough from Ochaco so she couldn't hear our conversation. He asked what was going on, but I just patted him on the back, and sighed.

"Izuku, I would never have thought that this day would come. But I'm truly happy for you and Ochaco." I congratulated, and Izuku started blushing.

"But, Aojikan, she only joined me at-"

"Shhh… Don't say anything. I know that you don't want most people to know that you're already that far in your relationship with Ochaco." I said, being completely oblivious to what he was saying. I was just enjoying his reaction.

"You're not listenning, are you?" Izuku asked, finally getting a grasp on the situation.

"Correct. I can't believe it took you so long to realise that. I'm just teasing you, lad. Because, truth be told, I really think that you should ask her out if you feel like that about her." Izuku was finally calming down. "But if you ever need help or someone to talk with, I'm always here. And perhaps All Might but I'm not too sure about that. You know, since he's always got his hands full with hero work."

"Thanks, Aojikan. But shouldn't we join back with Ochaco?" He asked, only to see me besides the brown-haired girl.

"So, now that this is done, let's get started with today's training." I said loudly, as. I pushed Izuku back to where Ochaco was. "Since Iida and Kate couldn't make it today, Kate and I decided that it would be better if we trained Ochaco's flames somehow. And perhaps even your hand to hand combat." I explained. "But let's start with the flames. Deku, spar with Ochaco without using your quirk."

"What? But..." Izuku was absolutely shocked.

"It's only fair that since we are training Ochaco to use her flames, you should only be using your flames." Izuku silently nodded, while Ochaco seemed to have something on her mind.

"Say, Aojikan, what are you going to do while we spar?" She asked.

"Oh, well, I have plenty of things to do, so don't worry about me." I said, smiling. "What are you waiting for? Start already!"

"Yes!" They both said simultaneously, and after blushing in embarrassment, they started sparring.

I watched both of them fight for a while. Izuku was having some difficulties, as he had to stop using his quirk. Meanwhile, Ochaco was trying her best to hit Izuku with her fingers but she couldn't. However, as the fight went on, they started getting better and better. Both of them were using their flames in very interesting ways. That's when I stopped watching, unfortunately, to focus on the time stone in my hand.

I channelled my flames into it, and the stone started to glow. Edward asked what I was doing, since nothing had worked yesterday. That was true, however I had only tried to use it to interact with another timeline, not using it as a 'power-up' for my abilities. I kept channelling my flames, and then I forcefully cut the link between this fragment and the original stone, so that the general wouldn't spy on me. I could very well find it again later, and I was pretty certain he wasn't going to move anyway.

I tried using my quirk in conjunction with the stone, to see what effects that had. At first, I didn't see anything different. That is until I looked forwards to see Izuku and Ochaco sparring. Except that they weren't moving anymore. I tried to wake them up by waving my hand in front of them, by screaming in front of them, and even by patting them on the back. Nothing worked. I turned to see Edward had physically changed, looking surprisingly human and… yellow?

_Ah yes, I understand now. I have rejected my humanity, Deku. This is my true abilit__y, The World!_ I thought, only to be punched by my stan- I mean, em-wave partner, of course.

"For goodness sake's, what is your problem, Paul?" It asked, visibly disappointed. "I am not your stand, okay? I have no idea why this my appearance right now, but it's already going away."

"Oh man, Does it really have to go?" I got more serious, thinking about what had happened. "Do you think I've really stopped time, or is it just slowed to a point where I can't make the difference?"

"Try jumping, and we'll see what happens." I instantly understood. If time was slowed-down, I would still feel gravity. Of course, nowhere near usual Earth gravity, but there would be a sort of resistance when I jumped. However, if time was stopped, then I could probably just fly around, no problem.

I jumped, and to my surprise, I could fly. Time was actually stopped. It looked like this stone had the power to make any time spell more powerful – including quirks. I went back down on the floor, only for time to resume. Miraculously, I was close to the ground when that happened, so I didn't break anything. Right after I recovered from my fall, my mind went blank. My head was so painful I could barely see or hear or feel anything else.

* * *

A few minutes later – or at least I think that's what it was – I finally recovered from the initial shock. I saw that Izuku and Ochaco were sitting besides me, and I realised I was laid down on the floor. I tried to move my arm, but my head still hurt so much that I couldn't focus on anything else. I thought that I might need the paracetamol that Recovery Girl had prescribed, so I tried to ask Izuku to give it to me.

To me, it looked like Izuku barely understood anything that I was saying, but he knew that I wanted something to ease the pain. He searched in my pockets and found the paracetamol. He gave one of the pills to me, and I swallowed it. A few minutes later, the headache was finally manageable, and I asked Izuku how long it had been.

"It's been 2 hours since you fell on the ground." Izuku said, sighing. "We were really worried about you… It's great that you're fine."

"Sorry about that, I'll try to pay more attention next time." I looked at the stone, and I didn't know what to make of it.

"So that's what you found on the villain's body… Does it make your quirk stronger?" He asked, but looked he was trying to get something out of his mind.

"Somehow, yes. It's a fragment of the time stone that the general used to teleport us here. Because my quirk is time manipulation, the stone reacts to it and makes immensely stronger." I explained. "But it looks like that power comes with a great drawback. My headache is so much bigger than usual."

"So, what are you going to do with it?" Ochaco asked, looking unfocused, like Izuku.

"I don't know for the moment. But I guess I'll just keep it on me at all times. I don't want anyone to steal it, and it's an incredible trump card." I looked at both of their faces. Something was wrong, but it looked like they didn't want to tell me. Well, too bad for them, I really needed to know. "Deku, Ochaco, it looks like something's… wrong somehow. Did anything happen while I lost consciousness?"

"You didn't really lose consciousness, Aojikan. Or Paul, I think that's how we should be calling you." Izuku said. "When we found you on the floor, you looked like you were lost, so we asked if you were fine."

"But then you asked us how we knew your name, and why you were here." Ochaco continued. "Apparently, your last memory was during the sport festival, when a door opened so you could see the outside world? It was really confusing, we barely understood what you were saying."

"Paul, I don't know how, but it looks like somebody else is possessing you, through a quirk perhaps." Izuku theorized. "Whoever it is, we need to get them out of your body. It looks like they are taking advantage of the moments when your defences are weaker."

"I think I know why all of this is happening." I started to understand what was happening, as I had remembered one of the causes of Distemporality Gaster had told me about. "I think whoever should have had this body is trying to take it back."

"What? That doesn't make any sense. This has always been your body." Izuku shook his head in disbelief. "Isn't that right? After all, I've known you since we were in nursery school."

"Don't you remember moments where I suddenly sounded different? Or was better at Japanese?" I was starting to remember moments when I hadn't been able to see nor feel anything. I thought that it was me collapsing from fatigue because I had been reading books all night, but I realised how similar these moments were with what happened this time.

"I do, but… It can't possibly mean anything, right? After all, you have Distemporality, an illness that only time travellers can have. So, this must be your body!" Izuku was starting to break down, and I could hear it in his voice. Meanwhile, Ochaco wasn't saying anything.

"Deku, I'm afraid you're wrong. It turns out that one of the factors for Distemporality is two souls from different timelines trying to control the same body." I started to understand that I had imposed myself on the other soul at first, since I was a teenager and it was only a baby. "Over time, my soul and his soul started to get used to one another, which meant that we were both changing to be a bit more like the other. But when I called upon myself from ten years in the future, it was only me, not him. A separation between the two souls has been created, and because of it, I can't use my - no, our quirk the way I'm supposed to."

"But, if that's the case, is there a way to bridge the gap?" Ochaco asked, surprising Izuku by her sudden intervention.

"I would say that if there is, we're getting very close to it." I answered. "If he is already able to talk when I'm out of the limits he has set on the quirk, that means that the separation is shallower than I thought. But before I use the stone again, I need to know if you were conscious during that time, Edward."

Ochaco didn't understand what was happening, so Izuku explained who it was and why she couldn't see it. The EM metroid told me that he was indeed conscious, but that he had not tried talking with the person inside my body, since he didn't know him.

"Well, this makes things a lot easier. Ochaco, Izuku, I'll use the time stone again, but this time I won't try to come back immediately. Else, you won't be able to talk to him. Edward will lead the way, but afterwards it's all on your shoulders." I started grasping the stone, and readied the spell. "Try to become his friend. Or at the very minimum, tell him that I just want to talk, and present my excuses. Thanks for your help, guys."

The two both screamed "NO!" as time stopped. I dropped the stone on the floor, and wrote a message on the sand, saying: "Sorry for not being so friendly. I didn't realise you were there as well. Please, if you ever need something, talk to me. I'm all yours."

As time resumed, I could only think about the fact that I hadn't told Kate about this theory, but just something vague about me not being the same. I tried writing a text message to her, but it was too late. Time had already resumed. _Oh well, I'm sure she'll understand. Ha, did I just say… stand? Is this, some kind of Jojo reference?_ This was the last thing I thought before losing control.

* * *

**A.N.: **Hello there! After reading some other fanfictions the other day, I realised that it's better to only put one of these author notes at the beginning or end of your chapters. Of course, if you're starting a fanfiction, there should be an author note at the beginning to explain what it's going to be about, but afterwards one author note is enough.

Anyway, I hope that you appreciated the chapter, and that twist at the end! Next time's chapter might be weird. By the way, I was wondering if I should change the category of this fanfiction? Tell me what you think! I'll have a poll on my profile, so you can go check it out. I'm also in the process of rewriting the previous chapter, so I might not upload next week. Feel free to check the old chapters in the meanwhile. Well, I hope you have a wonderful afternoon, a great week, and I'll see you next time on _The quirky adventures of Wadokei Aojikan!_

_"So here is your halting place!"_


	21. The truth about Wadokei Aojikan(part 2)

**Chapter 21: The truth about Wadokei Aojikan(part2)**

Wadokei Aojikan woke up in what should have been a familiar hospital room. But it wasn't for him. The beach incident had taught Izuku and Ochaco that there were two people in this single body. And that for the longest time, the friend who they had known was not actually the original possessor of this body. To say they were surprised would be an understatement. It almost felt like their world was falling apart before their very eyes.

But let's switch perspective here. Aojikan was still not recovering from his sudden regain of control over his body. When he 'woke up', the first thing he had seen was a message on the phone that said that Paul was sorry for what he had done, and that he wanted to start their relationship again on better terms.

Now, before anything may be added on the subject, I believe that it's necessary to reveal who I am. The narrator to this story is in fact the very same Wadokei Aojikan who I have talked about a few lines earlier. Since it is not absolutely necessary for your understanding of the story, I will not explain why I am writing it, as it should become obvious when we get to the end.

Anyway, as I was saying, I was still in shock from my 'reawakening'. It had already been a few hours, but it was still as weird as it had been on the beach. For the moment, I decided to completely ignore Paul's message. I had felt betrayed by Paul when he had called upon his future self. So I was not about to engage the conversation again after finally being back in control of my body.

Of course, this fear might have been a bit irrational, but I thought that if I gave him some leeway, he would take back the control. In hindsight, I've realised that was stupid. The only thing that Paul wanted was to get back to his timeline, and as such he knew that he would have needed to give up control over my body eventually.

However, I didn't realise this. As such, I made absolutely sure that the rift between the two of us was _absolute. _I wanted him to feel the complete isolation that I had felt, not realising that this was the worst way to improve our relationship.

When I came back to school, Ibara – or Kate as Paul would call her – took me apart from the rest of the crowd.

"Hey, Aojikan." She greeted, smiling.

"Hello, Ibara." I said, pretty coldly. I really didn't want to talk to her, because I knew that Paul loved her. And since I was opposed to him, I just wanted to be absolutely indifferent to all of his friends.

"That's kind of cold, coming from you." She said, not looking as surprised as her sentence would have suggested. "I wasn't expecting it. Paul was… let's say, vague about what he was about to do with the time stone. So, you must imagine my surprise when Deku and Ochaco sent me a string of incoherent messages, talking about Aojikan being two persons in one. I just want you to answer one question: Are you the real Wadokei Aojikan?"

"Why would you even ask, when it seems like you already know?" I asked, kind of annoyed that she would still ask.

"Well, the last days were a bit difficult to bear through." As she said this, I could see that she was trying to hold back tears. "I'm sure Paul didn't want to, but it was painful to me that he didn't even warn me about what he was doing." She started laughing a bit. "I guess I'm still in denial, right? And I don't even have anyone else to explain this to than the people who are the most confused about it. This is horrible…"

She fell onto her knees as she said that, and I couldn't keep up the cold personality any longer. I went on my knees as well, and asked her if she was alright. When she started crying instead of answering me, I didn't know what to do anymore. I stared around, and tried to think of what I could say, but all of the things that I thought of would only make the situation worse.

So, I did the only thing that I knew would calm her down for sure: I hugged her. I don't know what part of my brain thought that was a good idea. In fact, I spent the next few minutes thinking about how stupid this was, and how wet my t-shirt was becoming because of it. _Why didn't I just call an adult?_

"Thank you, Aojikan." She said when she finally stopped crying. "This must absolutely stupid to you, and I'm sure that he must have done something about it, but it makes me feel better nonetheless."

"You're welcome, I guess." I said, scratching my head in embarrassment. I was starting to get conscious of the stares of the people around us, and I didn't really like it.

"Let's get to class before Aizawa kills us, OK?" She said as she stood up. She sent death glares to everyone around, to signify that this was private business and that they should stay out of it.

We quickly started going to the classroom. I took the lead as I was the class representative, so I needed to check that everyone was here. The first half of the day was particularly uninteresting, as it was mostly "normal" courses. I did have some difficulties in mathematics after not having thought for myself in so long, but apart from that everything was easy.

Lunch was still as good as I remembered it being, and afterwards came the afternoon with its practical lessons. This was the most exciting part of the day for me, as I wanted to test my abilities without Paul. The exercise was pretty simple: 2 teams of five people would compete against each other, heroes and villains. The villains were trying to do a surprise attack against the heroes, to steal an incredible weapon of some kind.

I was put in the hero team, with Ibara, Iida, Ochaco and Bakugou, of all people. The latter, obviously said he was going to do whatever he wanted, which left the rest of us to decide on a plan. Everyone was depending on me, so I devised a simple plan where Ibara would stay on the edges of the building, trying to detect the villains with her vines. Iida would transmit information if the villains were to come, and Ochaco and I were to stay close to the treasure, to protect it.

The exercise was on a limited time, so the idea was that if the villains could get through Ibara's vines and Iida, we would stall for time by moving the weapon around. After Iida ran around to see what shortcuts we could do during the plan, the exercise started and everyone went to their positions.

* * *

_How long has it been? ...6. 7. 8. 9. It must be __129,600 seconds since I have been stuck here,_ I thought, stuck in the void.

I knew what was going to happen when I decided to use the time stone. In fact, the idea had been wandering in my head ever since I had seen it after Executive Smith had disappeared. But it turns out that I really wasn't ready for what I had done.

_6\. 7. 8. 9…_

When I saw the void, I knew that there would be nothing else to do, but wait for Aojikan to answer to my message. So I decided to count. Count every second to know how long had passed in the outside world. Gaster had done a marvellous job at explaining that somehow, the way time flowed in the void would be the same way that time flowed the last time I was "in the world". Now, of course, that didn't mean that I could interact with the outside world. Instead, in a way, it meant that I was completely stuck, as if time had frozen, but it just kept going at the same rhythm.

_6\. 7. 8. 9. Almost a day and a half, huh? _I wasn't expecting an answer from him any time soon, but I must admit that I had not mentally prepared myself for this place.

But, however excruciating this process of counting seconds might have been, I knew that I had to do it. I couldn't just abandon my hold on the outside world like that. It would be too hard. So I had to keep counting. Just to know how much time had gone by, without any possibility of action. How much time had gone by, without me being to change anything. How much time had gone by, without me being able to see Kate.

_6\. 7. 8. 9. Kate… if you knew what I was doing, I'm sure you would go mad, imagining how mad I'm becoming._

Even when everything was pitch black around me, my thoughts somehow came back to my girlfriend. But I quickly shook my head, and pondered about my situation. I had already made many calls to him, inside of this void, I had tried to reach his mind. But again and again, I was met with the same answer: _No. _I tried to pierce through Aojikan's mental barrier in any way, but nothing worked. He must have thought so much about his revenge on me, that it only took a miserable amount of focus to divert my demands.

_6\. 7. 8…_

"Hey!" I heard, slowly realising who it was.

"Have my endless pleas finally gone through your barrier?" I said, unconvinced by what I was saying, but a part of me still held hope.

"No, I wouldn't say it like that." Bitterness fuelled his words, and I could feel he was not happy to talk to me. "I need your… intelligence to help me."

"If you are desperate enough to call upon me, than the situation must be really dire..." I said, trying to think about what could have happened: Order of Villains attacking, Legrand personally sending one of his men to kill Aojikan. But it turned out it wasn't as serious as I had thought.

"Um, not really… In fact, I guess you could say it's a bit disproportionate to call you out of your prison." I tried to ignore the word, but it really hurt me. "Whatever, not like you're going to complain. I'm in the middle of a practical exercise and the situation is a little bad for the hero side that I am on."

"Let me guess: this was a team exercise but you got Bakugou as one of your members?" I asked, knowing that this was the only way he would lose. Aojikan was by no means idiot, if a bit less 'smart' than me. However, while defeating a single individual was easy, winning a team exercise when one of the members of your team doesn't want to know about teamwork is quite difficult.

"Correct." He said, a bit surprised I guessed the problem. "We must protect an object that the villains shouldn't get their hands on. We thought that Bakugou would make them lose a pretty good amount of time, but we were wrong. Ibara, who we assigned to the exterior protection of the building, has been taken down by the villain team, though I'm suspecting that's all because of Todoroki."

"Todoroki is on the villain team, huh?" I thought aloud, realising how bad the situation was. "Well, that means you only have 3 teammates left, right?"

"Yes, we were planning to stall for time by moving the object around thanks to Iida's speed and Ochaco's quirk." He explained. "But with so much time left, I don't think that's a viable strategy anymore. Have you got any ideas of what we could do?"

"Ochaco should protect the object, like in the original plan." I said, after having thought for a while. "Iida and you should go meet the villain team head-on, and take advantage of your speed to rapidly take them out. I'll let you devise the rest of the plan on the go."

"That's reckless! We should be defending, not attacking!" He yelled at me.

"You did say there were too many villains to stall for time, right?" I asked, trying to convince him. "And Todoroki is too much of a problem to be ignored. So, in this context, 'offence is the best defence'."

"Fine, I'll go along with your plan." He said, annoyed.

"Just, one favour. Can you at least let me see for a bit?" I asked, desperate to watch something else than the everlasting darkness of the void. "I really want to see how the battle plays out."

"That's the last request coming from you that I'm accepting for a while. Be thankful or something." He said, turning away towards the place from which he had came from.

I blinked, and instantly, as before, I was able to see what was happening around me. As he started moving towards Iida, and explaining the plan, I was ecstatic to be able to see again, and especially as my plan was going to be executed before my eyes.

* * *

The plan was in motion. While Iida and Ochaco were a bit sceptic at first, they recognized that with Todoroki on the team, we weren't going to stall for long. Ibara hadn't been able to stop him.

Iida and I started heading towards the entrance to the building, all the while being careful not to take paths where there were windows. Apart from Todoroki, the villain team possessed two main threats: Kirishima and Sato. These two were famous for being the strongest physically, and they would be a severe threat.

I knew that our old plan might have been discovered, as Jiro was part of her team. Her quirk, Earphone Jack, allowed her to listen to what happened inside of a building by "plugging" herself in the wall of said building. This made it obvious to me that they had known about Ibara's strategic placement, and decided to take her down.

I had somehow forgotten the fifth member of the team. In hindsight, that was a very bad time to be forgetting things, but you shall see how that actually happened.

As we ran around and I sporadically used my quirk to accelerate us, I hoped that Paul's plan would work. Even if we took down Todoroki, could Kirishima and Sato be defeated? As I pondered the answer to this question, we suddenly got near the entrance, and Iida made a sign that meant: "Use your quirk now!"

I didn't need to be told twice. I activated my quirk, and decided to keep it up for as long as I could, despite the throbbing headache I would inevitably get. As we burst out of the entrance at record-breaking speed, the villains seemed to walk and talk in slow-motion.

Iida dashed straight into Todoroki, gave him a kick in the gut, and I barely had enough time to punch him in the face. I had to stop my quirk quickly afterwards, as it was getting hard to think properly. I dismounted Iida, and Kirishima and Sato faced us, blocking the entrance to the building. This was my first hint that something was off. After all, there was really no reason to block the entrance, if they wanted to get in.

However, I had no time to think about such things as Kirishima hardened his skin and Sato ate his daily dose of sugar to become **Muscle man! **I used my quirk to quickly get around them and take out Jiro. 2 down, two remaining, and a fifth member still missing.

'Did Kate actually manage to take the fifth member out? How come I don't remember who it is? And why is this fist coming so close to my face-'

* * *

I watched in horror as Aojikan lost consciousness after being punched in the face. Gaster had told me before that if there was one weakness to over-thinkers, it's that they could lose their spatial awareness from time to time. Unable to let him fall to the ground and actually hurt himself, I decided to take control over the body once more. I somehow managed to do this mere instants before the body hit the floor, and miraculously dodged a kick from Kirishima.

Now that I was in control, I understood that Sato had punched… Aojikan? Or should I say me? Or even us? Anyway, our face was not deformed nearly enough to be a punch from Kirishima.

And that made me realise that these two could cooperate together very well. I stopped time once more as Kirishima and Sato tried unleashing a combined attack on me. I moved towards Iida, shook him somewhat, and that brought him back to consciousness. I mounted on him, and told him it was time for a cavalry attack.

As time resumed, Kirishima and Sato got really confused when they saw that they were punching the air rather than me. Seeing the opportunity to attack them, I stopped time again, and told Iida to charge into Sato to separate him from his rocky partner. I briefly lost consciousness due to the headache I had from using my quirk twice in quick succession, but I was able to wake up when I heard Iida screaming "**Recipro Burst!**"

He gave a mighty kick to Sato's head, and I gave a mighty punch to Sato's gut.

'Three down, one standing, and still no sign of the fifth.' I thought. 'Wait a minute, no sign? That must mean…!'

"Iida, Ochaco, Tooru's the fifth member of their team! She's already entered the building!" I yelled as loudly as I could, hoping Ochaco would hear me.

"Darn it, you found us out, Aojikan." Kirishima said, still hardened.

"Even then, you still haven't won." Todoroki added, surprising everyone. He was still in the fight. "Thanks for waking me up, Aojikan. Though, next time, if you can, I would suggest that you use a quieter method."

"Ah shoot, here we go again." I parodied, though nobody got me as per usual. "Iida, now!" I carefully whispered as we made a U-turn and went straight in the building.

"I won't let you!" Todoroki said, trying to block our path with his ice. However, the combined speed from Iida and my quirk was enough to break through easily, and we started climbing the building once more.

Todoroki said some other things, and even fired flames to chase us, but we were going to quick to be reached. The flames quickly stopped coming, as Todoroki must have had realised that it might injure Tooru or even us indirectly. Now that we were inside the building and had more odds of being heard, I reiterated my warning to Ochaco about the invisible spy.

We took all the shortcuts that we could, and somehow, we just barely made in time to help Uravity in the struggle against Tooru. Thankfully, the object – that turned out to be a simple screwdriver – was in the air, making it hard for Tooru to catch it. Even then, fighting an invisible opponent is no easy task, and Ochaco was struggling quite a bit.

I slowed down time, dismounted Iida, and searched everywhere I could to find Tooru. I searched near the object, and bingo, she was there. I had forgotten that she was also nude to use her quirk, so I must admit that when I touched her breasts, I was incredibly flustered and deactivated my quirk.

"Ah! Pervert!" Tooru screamed piercingly as she felt my inappropriate touch.

Quickly remembering the situation, I took out a rope that we had to capture the villains, and was somehow able to restrict Tooru before she started moving.

"Ah, that is so embarrassing… Please forgive me, Tooru!" I asked, bowing my head.

"It's fine… Why is that the way I must get everyone's attention…" She lamented, as though she had forgotten the severity of what had just happened.

"Well, anyway, we need to go and deal with Todo-" As I started saying this, a loud ring informed us of the end of the exercise. Somehow the hero team had won, by sheer luck.

"We did it!" Ochaco said, breaking the confusion.

"We actually did it! Whoo boy that was stressful." I said as I started to laugh relieved from the pressure.

"It is significantly unexpected that we won." Iida conceded, breathing a sigh of relief. "However, can we keep the rejoicings for later? We need to go see how Ibara is doing, and we should probably let Tooru free."

"Yeah, I would appreciate if you did that for me." The girl in question said, and I knew that she was pouting.

However, I wasn't able to enjoy the victory for too long as Aojikan, who had regained consciousness, forcefully kicked me out of the 'control centre'.

"I've started to consider that you might not be as bad as I've thought, and you have shown yourself to be useful." He said. "I guess I'll allow you to watch from now on. Don't think I'm forgiving or anything, I've just realised I might have been a bit cruel."

I was happy to learn this, and didn't add anything to what he was saying. As everyone went back towards the main building, I wondered if I was going to obtain Aojikan's forgiveness in the near future. It looked like it was going to be a hard way, but I knew that I would be able to do it. If he was already giving some concessions, that was a good sign.

After the other groups finished, Aizawa told the class where they needed to improve, and where they were improving at a good rate. He praised our group for our counter-intuitive plan, and said that this was the type of boldness that the teachers were expecting.

He finally remembered everyone that they would be moving into dorms next week, because of the media's uproar about the students' security at UA. This would certainly prove to be interesting, and would probably bring our relationships even closer than they were. And perhaps, perhaps even Aojikan would be willing to forgive me with this change.

* * *

**A.N.**: Hey there guys! I'm really sorry for not having uploaded for such a long while. I've had a lot of work recently, and not a lot of time to write this. I also sort of lost inspiration. But now I'm back! (I think) Don't expect me to be regular though, that might be a bit more complicated. But I will try my best to write more often.

I'm currently watching the _Rising of the Shield __H__ero_, so there might be a fanfiction coming on that when I'm finished watching it. Because I want to write fluff between Naofumi and Raphtalia, darn it! Coming soon.

And with this, I wish you a fantastic evening, and see you next time on the next chapter of _The quirky adventures!_

_"That punch is like a danger sandwich..."_


	22. Choosing hero names

**Chapter 22: Choosing hero names**

"Timestream!"

"Gentleman Hourglass!"

"Your hero name is stupid!" Aojikan said, adding fuel to the fire that was his fight with me.

"So is yours!" I replied, not believing what was happening.

I couldn't believe it, we were literally fighting over what hero name to pick. Sighing dramatically, I looked "outside" of our mental plane of existence. Bakugou had just suggested the name "King explosion murder". Somehow, that did not bode well with heroics.

"You probably should not use a name like this." Midnight said, taking on the cap of Captain Obvious for it.

"Why not?" Both of us were in shock. How could he be so oblivious to the glaring problems in his name?!

All of the class had the same reaction, and Kirishima suggested that Bakugou took the name, "Explosion boy", which he immediately refused. This homeroom class, where we needed to choose our hero names, had begun with weird names, but after the intervention of Tsuyu with her "Froppy", the names had come more naturally.

"Which is why we should Timestream." Aojikan insisted, answering to my thoughts. One of the weird things of being in the same body was that we could listen to each other's thoughts, which was sometimes unsettling. "It sounds a lot more natural."

"Fine, I'll give you that." I conceded, wanting to put an end to this fruitless debate. "How about a compromise between our two ideas? Most of the class have had a hero name in two parts."

"Like 'The everything hero: Creati'?" Aojikan asked.

"Yes, that kind of thing." I answered, nodding. "Your name sounds a lot more natural on its own, but we could add the gentleman or the hourglass part with 'hero' as the subtitle."

"Then it's decided." Aojikan said, as he wrote a name on our slate.

"Ah, Aojikan, you've finally decided?" Midnight asked, receiving a nod for our answer. "You were making a bit of noise back there."

We gulped – as in, we both decided to gulp at the same time – in reaction to what she had said. Was it that bad? Glancing around, we saw Kate shaking her head and disapproval, and Ochaco was scratching the back of our head in embarrassment. Deku and Iida weren't reacting, because they were still choosing their names,deep in thought.

'Darn it, if I had known, I would have tried to pay more attention.' Aojikan cursed in thought this time.

'Don't worry, I'm sure we'll get used to it.' I reassured him.

"The name w-I have decided on is: Hourglass hero, Timestream!" He said, almost without error.

"Ooh, fancy name! I like it!" Midnight said, winking at us.

As we got back in our seat, Iida went to the front with his slate. He had written 'Tenya' on it, his first name, baffling all of his friends.

'That's weird, I would have thought that he was going to pick the name Ingenium.' Aojikan thought/said. 'Perhaps it has something to do with his brother.'

I nodded, and suggested that we went to see him at break. Midoriya went to the front with his slate as Midinight asked him if he was ready. On it was written 'Deku'. I could see the anger in Bakugou's eyes. People in the class, namely Kirishima, were asking him if he really was okay with it. Izuku nodded, and started explaining:

"There was a time where I really didn't like this name." As he said that, he unconsciously glanced at Bakugou. "But, important people in my life have changed my perspective on it. I take pride in this name, because it's a reminder that I always need to do my best!"

There was, of course, a small feeling of pride in me, but I was mostly happy that Deku had gone so far. Aojikan hit me on the head, saying that it was also his idea, as we weren't separated at the time. I answered that he was probably right.

After about sixteen different variations on the same hero name, Midnight told Bakugou that he was to think about it over the weekend and find something that didn't contain a word from a list she had compiled while listening to him. Aizawa now told us that we needed to chose the hero agency that we wanted to be interns at.

Of course, those who had received offers after the tournament would have it easy, but for those who didn't, UA was partnered with 40 hero agencies that would accept interns.

'Guess that's another reason why they are top hero academy in the country.' I thought.

Of the people who had received offers, Todoroki had somehow received the most. I could hear him mumbling about his 'darn old man', and that did in fact explain it. After Shoto, I was the second one with the most offers, after which came Midoriya, Tokoyami, and then Bakugou, who was still very annoyed at having been beat by someone who wasn't even on the podium. At the tail-end, Ochaco and Iida had received offers as well, and the former was barely concealing her excitement.

After the morning classes were over, everyone kept talking about where they would intern. Ochaco admitted that she had already chosen Gunhead's agency, as they had offered. Izuku, once more revealing his incredible - and scary - amount of knowledge on heroes, asked if she was sure about it, seeing as Gunhead was a huge battle type. Indeed, Ochaco's plan for her hero career seemed to be more geared towards rescuing people.

"Thanks for the concern, but that's what I've decided!" Ochaco replied, bubbling with her usual energy. "My goal is to work in rescue, ultimately. But fighting Bakugou at the tournament made me realize something: the stronger I get the more possibilities I'll have!"

"That's a really interesting way to think, Ochaco!" Kate added. "I guess that's kind of true. It makes me think of 'Jack of all trades', you know?"

"Well, I do think that while ultimately, we must all specialize in the field that is most appropriate for us, having knowledge of all fields certainly can't be bad." I concluded, and everybody nodded. I tried to hide my surprise that Aojikan was letting me talk.

"Have you chosen where you want to intern yet, Aojikan, ribbit?" Tsuyu asked, tilting her head.

"Ah, well, I haven't decided for sure yet." Aojikan said, taking back control. "But I have been thinking about it before this class, and I guess I would really like to intern at Nighteye's agency."

"Nighteye?" Midoriya asked, his eyes turning into stars. "All Might's former and only sidekick? That's so cool!"

Everyone was kind of surprised by his outburst, but then again, it's Midoriya talking about All Might, what were you expecting? Anyway, I had more important matters to deal with, such as '_Why is Aojikan letting me talk?' _and '_Did he listen to my ramblings about what hero agency we should be interns at?'_

'Yes I did listen to your ramblings.' Aojikan said, looking at me without any ill will. It had been almost one week since we had switched. 'And as for why, it's the same answer to your first question. I've realized that while you can make errors, you are really smart and,' He marked a pause by sighing. 'wise, I guess.'

'Thank you.' I thought quietly – it sounds less weird when you look at it like it's a discussion – as I scratched the back of my mental head.

Then it hit us both that we hadn't talked to Iida yet! We managed to get out of the conversation with Kate/Ibara coming with us to confront him. He was currently looking at the internship form, deep in thought. Kate poked him to pull him out of his reverie, and he suddenly, with very robotic movements – that is to say, Iida-like movements – he turned his head towards us in surprise.

"Yo Iida, are you okay?" Aojikan asked, tilting our head a bit.

"Yes, I am fine. Why do you feel the need to ask, Aojikan?" Iida asked, still hesitant to call us by our first name.

"You didn't look too well when you presented your hero name to the class in homeroom." Kate said, eyes full of concern. "You've been awfully silent in class, and you seem lost in thought each time we look at you." She glanced at me, and I nodded.

"If there's something that's troubling you, we want you to know that you can about it with us." I said, pointing to Midoriya and Ochaco to add them. "It's not good to bottle up your feelings, and you can't act normally if you do. But we're not going to force you to say anything. We're just laying the offer on the table." I finished, smirking to make him feel better.

"Thank you very much, I will think about it." He said, smiling a bit.

"That's no good, Iida." I said, shaking my head. Kate sent a questioning look towards me before I began explaining. "Judging by the amount of thinking you've been doing ever since the beginning of this day, if you do any more, your head's going to explode!"

Kate broke into laughter, not expecting the joke. Iida started trembling, trying to stop laughing, before he started laughing as well. Aojikan was looking away in our mental plane, but I knew he was just trying to hide the fact he enjoyed my joke. I heard laughter behind me as well, and when I turned towards it, I was greeted by the faces of Izuku and Ochaco, trying to contain it to no avail.

"Ah, if I only I had known I was this funny… I knew I should have tried to become a comedian!" I said dramatically, provoking another outburst of laughter.

When they all finally calmed down, Iida looked much better, as if a part of the weight on his shoulders had been lifted. But I knew that there was still something troubling him, and we needed to do something about it.

* * *

The day passed in a breeze after that, and I barely had any time to talk to Iida before we had to go back home. While we had been in the dorms for a week now, an aftermath of the attack on the tournament, we still had the possibility to go back home every two weekends to see our family.

This was an unfortunate turn of events, because it meant that if we wanted to talk to Iida, we couldn't do it for very long. Aojikan agreed with me, but he said that we should probably try to talk with him anyway. Even if we wouldn't be able to talk about everything, just a little was better than nothing at all.

'Besides, didn't you want to give both him and Ochaco that new prototype for dying will gems?' Aojikan reminded me as he glared at me.

'Ah, how could I have forgotten! Aojikan, you're a life saver!' I mentally yelled, rushing to go find the gems.

He just nodded at me, and looked at me like I was the biggest idiot in history. I didn't say anything else, as I was busy trying to find the gems in my locker. Wait, I was searching them?

'Aojikan, there's something that's been bothering me for a while now.' I began, turning my head towards him.

'And what would that be, my dear tenant?' Aojkan asked, bothering me even further.

'See, you keep adding to it. "Dear"? Are you serious, Aojikan? Or are you just messing with me?' I asked, perhaps a bit too energetically, as he was taken aback. 'Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. What I really want to ask is… Why are you being so nice to me? Why are you starting to give back control? I can't wrap my head around it.'

'Our head?' Aojikan said, smirking.

'Oh come on, that's confusing and you know it.' I replied, involuntarily smiling. 'But, really though, why? Did you have a change of heart in one week? Seriously?'

'Perhaps, perhaps not.' Aojikan said, sighing. 'I've realized that what I was doing to you was not going to solve anything, and that practical exercise made me realize that we both need each other. And I know that you weren't doing what you did on purpose.'

'So you decided that cooperating with me would be for the best?' I concluded.

'Yes, that's what I've decided. I accept your apologies by the way. And I'm sorry for being a jerk.' He answered. And then he glared at me as if not to apologize any more.

'Well, let's go find Iida and Ochaco, I've found the gems.' Aojikan nodded, and we waited outside of the school to intercept our group of friends.

"Ah Aojikan, why did you wait for us here?" Midoriya asked, Ochaco and Iida besides him and Kate behind.

"Because that's how people in anime react when they wait for someone." I explained, and Aojikan continued. "I wanted to test if this was a viable strategy, though pressing my back against the wall seems to set all of the wrong flags to be honest."

"Ah, I see…" Izuku said, clearly not convinced.

"Just Aojikan doing something stupid. Just like usual." Kate provoked, smirking.

"Ridiculous, I'm not always like that." We both said to defend ourselves. "Anyway, there's something I need to give Iida and Ochaco. I'm sorry that I'm a bit late in delivering them." I said as I gave away the two gems, a thunder gem to Iida, and a rain gem to Ochaco. "You should put these in your hero costumes, and they will activate passively if you're determined about something."

"Thank you, Aojikan!" Ochaco said, beaming. Iida nodded to thank us.

"You're welcome." Aojikan said, turning his head towards Iida.

We didn't know how to talk to him without putting him on the spot, so Aojikan turned our head once more, this time towards Kate. She tilted her head in confusion, and then looked at Iida. He looked deep in thought, and he was looking at us without really paying attention. She cleared her throat loudly to get Iida out of his reverie, and started talking:

"Iida, we can all tell that something has been bothering you lately. And I think that we all can tell what it is. Because we do, we also understand why it would be hard to talk about it." She paused, looking very concerned.

"I've noticed you've already given your form away." I added, trying to have the most sympathetic look possible. "I have no doubt that you are usually calm and make very good decisions, but I'm scared that you let your emotions guide you this time around."

"Iida, if it's really bothering you, we want to make sure you can talk to us." Izuku said, and Ochaco nodded along.

"I thank you all, but you are concerning yourselves for nothing." Iida said, convincing basically nobody. "Well, I need to go. See you on Monday."

As he left, we all felt that we had somehow failed to convey our feelings to Iida. Izuku and Ochaco looked almost defeated, and Kate was looking at the ground. Aojikan and I looked at each other, searching for something to say. Then, an idea popped in my head.

"Iida, vengeance won't bring you anything!" We both said. Iida didn't turn back, but he did stop walking. "If you are ever in need of help or backup, just call us, OK?"

Iida didn't answer. He started walking again, not turning back once. Izuku and Ochaco left shortly after, saying that they were going to miss the train if they didn't leave immediately. We said goodbye, and I looked ahead, lost in thought.

"You're coming to my house with me." Kate said, dragging me by the arm.

"Excuse-me?" We both said at once.

"There are a few questions that I need to ask you, Paul and Aojikan. And I need you to try my new blend of tea. It will be a waste if you don't try it."

Unable to resist the offer, we walked with her to her home.

* * *

As we were drinking tea in Kate's room, she started asking us questions that had been troubling her for a while.

"Why is it that today, I couldn't tell if it was Paul or Aojikan talking?" She asked bluntly, sending us an accusatory glare. "I thought that Aojikan wouldn't be letting Paul out any more."

"I've changed my mind." Aojikan answered. "We've decided to partner up instead of fighting each other all the time. It's more efficient, and I admit that Paul is more intelligent than I am." I started scratching the back of my head in embarrassment.

"Oh, so that's why Paul just reacted, even though Aojikan was talking?" She asked as a smile started to form on her face.

"Ah, I hadn't realised I actually did that." I admitted, looking at my cup of tea as if it was the most interesting thing in the world right now.

"Seriously? That's incredible!" Kate said in between bursts of laughter.

"Hey that's not funny!" We both yelled, only to make her laugh even harder.

"Oh my goodness, I can see it now." She said, not laughing any more.

"What?" Aojikan asked, annoyed.

"You were both saying that together, right?"

We tried to contain the blush. We did, really. However, one quick glance at Kate's face was the only thing needed to see how badly we had failed. She was smiling and biting her tongue not to break out in laughter again.

"You should have really become comedians." She said after having calmed herself down. "But for some reason you chose the hero career. Bad choice if you ask me."

'Nobody asked for your opinion.' We thought, glaring.

"Well, if you are able to talk to each other, I guess that would explain why I have started hearing her."

"Her? As in the person who was supposed to live in this body?" Aojikan asked. "The real Ibara?"

"Yup, that's about right." Kate nodded, looking a bit sad. "As opposed to you guys' situation, I haven't done anything to anger her."

"Was it really necessary to remind us?" I asked, not really expecting an answer.

"Absolutely." Kate answered, not giving any reason as to why. "But, recently, she's been… calling me, I guess? I don't really know how I should say it. So I thought that since you guys seem to have patched up, you could probably help me to… talk to her, I guess?"

"Just answer. It's not that hard. It's all in your head" Aojikan said, and judging by the confusion on Kate's head, that was not very helpful.

"What he means by that is that if you want to talk with her, you need to 'think' it." I took over, as I mentally punched Aojikan in the gut.

"Um, that's a bit more helpful, but I don't quite get it…" She said, looking just as confused as before.

"I guess it would help to do meditation to begin with, so that you can completely focus on your thoughts." I said, remembering the many lessons that Gaster had taught me about it. "We could even try to do it together."

"What do you mean by that?" She asked.

"I'm suggesting that we both meditate together, and try to unite our thoughts." I explained. "Basically, it's like if I was in your mind, as well as Ibara and yourself."

"But how do you even do that? Your quirk clearly isn't about going into other people's minds." She said. Aojikan was also looking at me questioningly.

"No, you are correct." I admitted. "But while I can't go into your mind, I can have Edward serve as a sort of bridge between us."

"I'd appreciate it if you stopped calling me when it's convenient, master." Edward said, seemingly disappointed in me.

'Oh, you're not used to that yet? He does it all the ti-" I punched Aojikan to stop him from talking, because he clearly wasn't helping at all.

"Sorry, Edward. I've unfortunately been unable to converse with you recently." I apologised.

"It is fine, don't apologise further." He said.

"_Touché_, Edward." I said, scratching the back of my head to stop myself.

"Well, I will take over the explanations then." The creature said as I nodded in approval. "Master Paul, please begin meditating." I closed my eyes slowly, sitting cross-legged. "Master Kate, you can take the same position as Master Paul. Please close your eyes."

I started breathing slowly, and I searched for the source of my will. I had done this dozens of time with Gaster, so it was very quickly that I woke up before a massive pillar of lightning flames. Aojikan woke up besides me, whistling in amazement.

'Wow, I did not know that your 'dying will' was that impressive.' He complimented. 'And you're not even fighting.'

Behind us, we saw a flash of light, and Edward appeared behind us. When appearing in the real world, he used a sort of humanoid form, based on our body, that had some metroid attributes. However, when in a mental plane, he could take on his full form, which was that of an omega metroid.

When I had arrived in this timeline, and I was came to the metal plane for the first time, at about 2 years old, he was just a little metroid larvae, barely making it to my height. A little, jellyfish-like creature, with two fangs, and small red orbs. But now, he was standing proud at about 6 metres tall, though he was somehow still floating above the ground. Probably something about being an EM-wave being made it possible.

This metroid was also surprisingly polite, as Aojikan made me realize when he asked if that wasn't supposed to be a super-predator from space. I had no explanation as to where it came from, though I had a couple of hypotheses. Either Gaster had made a prank/experiment with me as the victim/subject, or somehow, general Legrand had implanted him in me during the fight. While the former was possible, the latter was downright ridiculous, and that left me with one hypothesis.

Gaster, after training me for about 5 months in the basics, had given me a relic from a very long time ago. It was an incredible piece of technology, that was called module E. It allowed me to fight at a level that was previously unreachable to me. In exchange, it was unbearably painful to use it. Like, stupidly painful.

One day, in a fight against an executive of the Order – namely, executive Smith – I was kicked out of my transformed form with the module. Now, this would have been the end of me, if it were not for the fact that after running away from Smith, and trying to do the most damage without dying, the module somehow reappeared when I was about to die. Except it wasn't the original one any more, this one was almost linked with me.

My hypothesis was that when the module had reappeared in me, it had actually changed my body somehow, and Edward was a consequence of it. I wouldn't have been able to see it at the time, as I was too focused on fighting the order to notice such a small baby metroid.

Now, this wasn't just a hypothesis, seeing as Gaster had told me that module E had some link to the super-predator species. However, neither I nor him nor anyone had ever been able to figure what it was. So basically, until I came back to my timeline, I would just have to accept the fact that Edward was staying with me.

In all that time I was thinking, Kate and Ibara had managed to make it on the mental plane. Edward announced that the link had been established, and that we should probably get on with it.

"So, where are we exactly?" Kate asked, seemingly lost.

"I guess you could call this your mind?" Aojikan answered, turning towards me for more information.

"This is actually a physical representation of your mind." I corrected. Kate and Ibara nodded. "The pillars you see behind us and behind you are the representation of your dying will, also called determination." Kate and Ibara turned around, and nodded to indicate they understood.

"So, you're the real Ibara?" Aojikan asked towards the girl who had vines for hair.

"Yes, that is correct." She answered, smiling. "I am a bit confused about all of this, but I understand that you two come from another universe?" She looked at Kate and me, searching for our approval.

"I guess you can say it like that. Right, Paul?" She asked, turning towards me.

However, I wasn't listening to the conversation any more. They all turned towards me with concern, but I wasn't paying attention.

"Master Paul, is something quite wrong?" Edward asked, and he appeared to have also noticed the problem.

"Yes, you would be correct." I answered, looking at Kate once more – or, to be honest, what I had thought was Kate since I had met her. Seeing her in her mind revealed that she was not the Kate I knew. She was someone that I had never seen before, with Gaster or anyone else for that matter.

This theory was solidified by looking at the pillars behind her. While there was a huge Sun pillar, just as I should have seen, there was also a very big Cloud pillar, and I could see that she was oblivious to it. That meant that she was oblivious to her flames, showing that before this timeline, she didn't have any experience of battle.

"Kate, what is Louis' speciality?" I asked, apprehensive of the answer.

"That's obvious Paul." She said, looking at me like I was silly. "How could you forget he specialises in illusions?"

I was stunned. Somehow, she had all of the memories of Kate. And she even believed herself to be Kate, judging by that time we had spent at her house after the UA entrance exam. Then it hit me. There was a contradiction in what I was saying. With a wavering voice, I asked her:

"Kate, you're my girlfriend, right?"

She broke out into laughter, as Aojikan slapped me and called me an idiot. I didn't care about it. I asked the question once more, asking that she seriously answered it.

"Of course I'm your girlfriend, Paul." She said. "Don't you remember? It's been like that since… Since…" I could see her starting to hesitate. "Wait Paul, I have a problem. I can't remember since when we're together." Tears were starting to form in her eyes. "Paul, why can't I remember? W-Why does it feel like I have fake memories? I-I…"

"Shh, it's alright." I said, as I hugged her and rubbed her back gently. Aojikan and Ibara were completely confused, and Edward was looking away. "It's fine. Everything is going to be OK."

After a while, she finally calmed down, and looked at me for answers. I had been thinking about it ever since I had seen her face, so the words came pretty easily as I started explaining my theory:

"I think I know why you and I have fake memories. Well, maybe not all of them are fake. Some are true, but they aren't your memories. They are the memories of Kate, my friend and perhaps crush, but definitely not my girlfriend."

"What you have said fails to explain the origin of your altered memories, Master Paul." Edward interrupted, a stern look on his face.

"I was about to get to it." I replied, not liking the interruption. "I think when general Legrand tried to teleport us to this timeline, he realized that he didn't have enough energy left to teleport both me and Kate. So he had to made a split-second decision. Instead of teleporting only me or Kate, he decided to teleport me and someone else – you – while altering our memories to make me believe that it was Kate and me that were teleported."

"But why did he bother doing this?" Aojikan asked. "Why couldn't he transport both of you to this timeline?"

"It was at the end of the fight." I started explaining. "We had forced him to use almost all of his stamina and magic. At this point, Kate and I were tired, but definitely not exhausted. He couldn't use the spell on both of us, because together we would be able to reject it. However, if he used it on either of us and someone who didn't have magic, there was no way we could resist it."

Aojikan nodded, and nobody asked questions for a while. Everyone was pondering what I had just said, including myself. I was even more angry at general Legrand, who had dragged someone who was completely innocent into all of this. I looked at the girl who I had thought was Kate, and she didn't say anything. She just stayed in the hug, without anything to say.

It was quite hard to leave her house after this. We stopped meditating, and she tried to convince me that she would be fine. I couldn't believe it, but I decided to tell her to call me if she wanted to talk. Even though the only thing I wanted to do right now was stay at her house and apologize to her until my voice was hoarse.

Aojikan was unusually calm as he took over to walk back home. I wasn't well enough to do it. I couldn't stop thinking about what I had discovered, and I couldn't care less about what happened in the outside world.

* * *

The first day of our hero agency internships finally came around. Everyone in our class was excited, except Ibara, Iida and myself. Paul had not come out since that evening at Ibara's home, even when given multiple opportunities to act. He was currently sleeping on the floor. In his mind.

Trying to ignore the possible repercussions on his mental health, I listened to Aizawa's blasé voice giving instructions on what we were and weren't supposed to do during this internship. I was intently listening to him because I wanted to stop thinking about what had happened that evening. In the end, Ibara/Kate never called us. Not that Paul would have been able to have a coherent conversation anyway.

I sighed as Aizawa gave his last instructions, and tried to remember what train line I was supposed to take. As I was looking around, I saw Iida walking away quickly, towards the line that would take him to Hosu.

'Hosu, Hosu…' I knew I had heard it before but I couldn't quite-

'It's where the hero killer Stain acts.' Paul answered my unspoken question.

I would have normally been stuck to the ground by the shock that Paul was suddenly talking again, but I had something to do.

"Hey Iida!" I called, and he turned himself towards me.

Ochaco and Izuku, having realized he was leaving, were walking quickly towards us. Ibara was snapped out of her thoughts, it would appear, but she didn't get any closer. Paul looked at the floor in reaction.

'Seriously?' I asked, more to myself than him to be honest.

"If you ever feel really desperate, call us!" Izuku yelled.

"We're your friends, and we want to bet there for you!" Ochaco added.

"Yeah." Iida replied, and he walked away.

I wanted to keep talking, but I didn't know what to say. Paul was unfortunately in no state to convince him, and Ibara was lost in thought. I cursed lowly as I realized we had failed again. Failed to comfort him, failed to stop him from doing something stupid. As I started walking away towards my train, I turned back once, just to see Iida's back.

* * *

**A.N.: **I hoped you liked this chapter! I'm really sorry for the lack of chapters, I haven't been able to write for a while because of homework and lack of will to continue this. I won't promise to publish chapters regularly again, because I'm not sure I can actually keep my promise. But I really want to finish this fanfiction, and I don't want to disappoint anyone following. And by the way, talking about followers, I want to thank all of the people who have followed this fanficton during the three months of hiatus. You're the reason I have come back to writing, and I tip my hats to you, dear friends.

In any case, I hope you have a fantastic day, and I'll see you next time for another chapter of _The quirky adventures!_

_"And the crying will be a like a savoury soda for my soul!"_


End file.
